1898

Meiji 31 (明治三十一年)

Timeline of 1898

• 1898/1/20 Gensuifu codes
• 1898/1/22 Total solar eclipse.
• 1898/2/10 Tomioka silk mill laborers strike.
• 1898/2/24 Nippon Railway laborers strike.
• 1898/4/25 Nishi-Rosen Agreement
• 1898/6/11 The Guangxu Emperor launches the Hundred Days' Reform in China.
• 1898/6/30 Okuma Shigenobu ministry.
• 1898/7/7 President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution by which the United States annexes the Hawaiian Islands.
• 1898/8/1 Toyoda Sakichi gets patent for his weaving machine.
• 1898/9/21 A coup in China returns the Empress Dowager Cixi to power. The Guangxu Emperor is confined in seclusion, Kang Youwei flees into exile, and a number of his associates are gathered up and executed, becoming the "Six Martyrs." The government turns dramatically from radical reformist to conservative reactionist attitudes & policies.
• 1898/10/15 Nihon Kaiga Kyôkai (Japan Painting Association) becomes the Nihon Bijutsu-in (Japan Art Institute).
• 1898/10/31 Okuma ministry resigns.
• 1898/11/5 Yamagata Aritomo assumes office as Prime Minister for the second time.
• 1898/12 The Treaty of Paris grants the US control of Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico; Cuba gains independence.
• 1898/12/18 Saigô Takamori statue in Ueno unveiling ceremony.

Other Events of 1898

• Civil code is promulgated, making the traditional ie (household) system into a formal, legal reality, and further developing the koseki system of household registration introduced in 1872.
• Leap years are established in Japan.
• Twenty-fifth anniversary of the Methodist Episcopal Mission in Japan.
• Merriman Harris is awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Fourth Class.
• Military conscription is implemented in Okinawa prefecture.
• Russia secures lease to Port Arthur on the Liaodong Peninsula, providing it a warm-water port in the East.
• Saigô Tsugumichi becomes fleet admiral.
• Ceremonies and celebrations are held for the thirty-year anniversary of Tokyo becoming the Imperial capital. Performances and processions included recreations of Edo period displays, as well as more modern nationalistic and military displays.
• The US Supreme Court decision in the case Wong Kim Ark v. United States affirms that the 14th Amendment covers the rights to citizenship of all those born within the United States, regardless of race. This is a particularly significant decision for Asian-Americans.

Births and Deaths

• 1898/3/21 Painter Nakamura Daizaburô is born (d. 1947).
• Edoardo Chiossone dies (b. 1833).
• Prince Gong dies (b. 1833).
• Shin hanga artist Ito Shinsui is born (d. 1972).
• Kasamatsu Shirô is born (d. 1991).
• John Manjirô dies (d. 1827).
• Mori Yoshitoshi is born (d. 1992).
• The Taewongun dies (b. 1821).
• Yamakawa Hiroshi dies (b. 1845).

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1898

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