1790

Kansei 2 (寛政二年)

Timeline of 1790

1790/5 The Kansei reforms are promulgated, imposing new regulations on publishing.
- Includes bans on books containing unorthodox ideas, those produced under pseudonyms, and those written in kana and based on "baseless rumors", along with those books and prints depicting current events in the guise of historical tales. Extravagant objects with "rhetorical flourishes" are likewise banned.
- Single-sheet prints must now contain not only the names of designer (artist) and publisher, but also a kiwame censors' seal.
1790/10 The regulations on publishing of the Fifth Month are re-promulgated.
1790/11 The system by which publishers appointed representatives (gyôji) to serve as censors is extended to the makers of prints and picturebooks, where previously only publishers of books containing prose had to appoint gyôji. Booklenders and wholesalers are now also required to have their merchandise inspected.

The Nakasu entertainment district in Edo is dismantled, and the normal flow of the Sumida River restored.
The shogunate closes over forty illegal pleasure districts in Edo.
Maruyama Ôkyo and his students take part in renovation efforts at the Imperial Palace.

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