1876

Meiji 9 (明治九年)

Timeline of 1876

• 1876/2/27 Treaty of Ganghwa signed.
• 1876/3/28 Haitô edict - The wearing of swords is banned except for military and police officers.
• 1876/5/10-11/10 Centennial Exposition (World's Fair) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1876/8 The Mikado's Empire, a history of Japan by William Griffis, is published.
• 1876/10/24 Kumamoto castle is attacked in the Shinpûren Incident.
• 1876/10/28-11/6 Hagi Rebellion
• 1876/11/6 Technical Art School (Kôbu bijutsu gakkô) is founded on the campus of the Imperial College of Technology.

Akizuki Rebellion

• 1876/10/26 Masuda Shizukata arrested trying to drum up rebel support in former Saga han.
• 1876/10/27 Leaders of Shinpûren Incident meet up with disgruntled shizoku retainers of the Akizuki clan. The rebels attack the Myôgan-ji and kill a police officer.
• 1876/10/29 Rebels are attacked by elements of the Imperial Japanese Army under Nogi Maresuke; 17 rebels killed, and two Imperial soldiers.
• 1876/10/31 Seven rebels commit suicide while the remainder raid the city of Akizuki and kill two government officials.
• 1876/11/24 Last of the rebels are apprehended.
• 1876/12/03 Rebels are put on trial; two are beheaded, 150 others sentenced to hard labor.

Ryûkyû Shobun

• 1876/3/24 The Resident Japanese Diplomatic Minister in China requests to meet with Ryukyuan envoys present in Beijing, but is denied by the Chinese authorities.
• 1876/3/28 The Japanese mission in China sends by telegraph to Foreign Minister Terajima Munenori asking what to do about the Ryukyuan envoys in Beijing; Terajima responds that the Ministry of the Interior will punish Ryûkyû appropriately, and so to for now let it be.
• 1876/5/17 The Prime Minister's office informs the Ministry of the Interior that it will be taking over law enforcement (police jurisdiction) in Ryûkyû.
• 1876/8/1 Despite Ryukyuan objections, the Ministry of the Interior begins police operations and law enforcement administration in the Ryukyus.
• 1876/9/3 Twenty-five soldiers from the first regiment of the Kumamoto Garrison are based at a new 18,000 tsubo barracks established in Kohagura village, outside Naha, the first Japanese military installation to be established in the Ryukyus.
• 1876/12 Minister of the Interior Ôkubo Toshimichi, in an "inquiry" to the Prime Minister, criticizes the Ryukyuan action of sending envoys to Beijing, and suggests the full abolition of the Ryûkyû Kingdom and annexation of its territory.
• 1876/12/6 Kôchi ueekata and several other Ryukyuan officials request a ship to sail to Iheya Island in order to pray there; using this as a pretext, they depart for China, arriving the following March.

Other Events of 1876

• Antonio Fontanesi leaves Japan and returns to Italy.
• Émile Guimet journeys to Japan.
• Korean envoys visit Japan for the first time since 1811.
• Obama prefecture is absorbed into Shiga prefecture.
• Japan declares its borders to extend out to include the Ogasawara Islands.
• The railroad link between Kobe and Osaka is extended to Kyoto.
• Samurai are required to convert their stipends into twenty-year bonds. Combined with the Haitô edict, this represents the final step in the abolition of the samurai class, and of its hereditary privileges.
• Shimabara castle is torn down.
• Shuri castle is made the site of the barracks of the Kumamoto Garrison.
• The first woodblock print to depict the Emperor's person in a not entirely imaginary manner is published.

Births and Deaths

• 1876/2/20 Ifa Fuyû, father of Okinawan Studies, is born (d. 1947).
• Weaver Date Yasuke IV dies (b. 1813).
• Ryukyuan royal advisor Giwan Chôho (b. 1823) dies.
• Imamura Hyakuhachirô is killed.
• Masuda Shizukata is killed.
• Shin hanga artist Yoshida Hiroshi is born (d. 1950).

Previous Year 1875

1876

Following Year 1877