1722

Kyôhô 7 (享保七年)

Timeline of 1722

Ban on foreign books is lifted (except for those pertaining to Christianity); importation of Western books through Nagasaki resumes.
Ichikawa Danjûrô II becomes the first Edo kabuki actor to achieve an annual salary of 1,000 ryô.
The shogunate licenses 109 rice brokers and permits them to form a union.
Double suicide is banned.
The reign of the Kangxi Emperor comes to an end in China. He is succeeded by the Yongzheng Emperor.
The Publishing Guilds issue a series of regulations, banning amorous stories, any new or confused interpretations of Buddhism, Confucianism, or Shintô, and mentions of Tokugawa Ieyasu or of the Tokugawa clan. In addition, the authors and publishers were obligated to include their real names in the colophon (okutsuke) at the ends of their books. This represents the first extensive system of surveillance and censorship of publishing implemented.
Satsuma han orders the Kingdom of Ryûkyû to perform a land survey.
Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune makes the first ever direct request for European paintings from the Dutch East India Company; a number of works by Willem Hendrik van Royen arrive in 1726.
Four waterworks channels in Edo are taken out of use, leaving the Tamagawa and Kanda channels providing water to the city.
The shogunate's ban on yomiuri news-singers and news-papers is strengthened, but to little effect.

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1722

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1723