1899

Meiji 32 (明治三十二年)

Timeline of 1899

• 1899/12/5 The first Okinawan emigrants bound for Hawaii leave Okinawa aboard the SS China.
• 1899/12/30 The SS China departs Yokohama for Hawaii.

Other Events of 1899

• A Former Natives Protection Law seeks to remedy the Ainu's rapid loss of land and resources to Japanese colonists and others. The Law provides land to Ainu, along with seeds, tools, and other materials, forbidding this land from being sold without official authorizations. Ainu are mandated to farm this land, and their financial assets are seized by the government, to be used to protect or otherwise benefit the Ainu as the government sees fit.
• Ise Shrine is rebuilt.
• The first Japanese Nationality Law is passed, providing the first modern legal definition of Japanese nationality, and formally establishing Japanese citizenship and the conditions for naturalization.
• The journal Kokka is established.
• Kutsuna Korejirô founds the Kawamata Silk Refining Company.
• Li Hongzhang becomes governor-general in Canton.
• The Morinaga candy company, known in particular for its caramels, is established.
• The Okinawa Prefecture Land Reorganization Project converts much communal land in Okinawa into private land, and replaces the complex system of taxes formerly paid in various forms (grain, etc.) by farmers to the Ryukyuan royal government with a single monetary land tax paid to the prefectural government.
• Examples of oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang Dynasty are discovered; these were at that time the oldest examples of writing yet discovered.
• Shuri Ward petitions the central government for ownership/control of the Shuri castle grounds so that the castle can be restored and maintained, and so that the grounds can be put to use as a public park. The petition is denied.
• Tattooing is banned in Okinawa.
• Torii Shinjirô establishes Torii Shôten, the predecessor to the Suntory Beverage Company.
• Treaty ports system is abolished.

Births and Deaths

• Art historian Laurence Binyon is born (d. 1943).
• Painter Harada Naojirô dies (b. 1863).
• Art historian Higa Chôken is born (d. 1945).
• Future Prime Minister Ikeda Hayato is born (d. 1965).
• Katsu Kaishû dies (b. 1823).
• Writer Kawabata Yasunari is born (d. 1972).
• Ôki Takatô dies (b. 1832).
• Ukiyo-e collector Shibui Kyôshi is born (d. 1992).

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