Ansei 5 (安政五年)
Timeline of 1858
- 1858/4/25 (June 6) Joseph Heco (Hamada Hikozô) becomes the first Japanese to naturalize as a US citizen.
- 1858/5 Treaty of Tientsin ends the Second Opium War.
- 1858/6/19 Harris Treaty of Amity and Commerce is signed between Japan and the United States.
- 1858/7/10 Dutch-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce is signed between Japan and the Netherlands.
- 1858/7/11 Russo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce is signed between Japan and Russia.
- 1858/7/18 Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce is signed between Japan and the United Kingdom. High Commissioner to China James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin is the chief British representative and signatory.
- 1858/8 Sanjukken-nagaya is completed at Kanazawa castle.
- 1858/9/3 Franco-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce is signed between Japan and France.
- 1858/9/5 Ansei Purges begin.
- 1858/10/25 Tokugawa Iemochi becomes shogun.
Other Events of 1858
- A cholera epidemic strikes across the country, killing 100,000 in Edo alone.
- Manabe Akikatsu is named rôjû for a second time.
- Morita-za kabuki theatre in Edo changes its name to incorporate the kanji for "protection".
- Fukuzawa Yukichi founds a school of Western learning which would later become Keiô University.
- Ichiki Shirô of Satsuma han receives various secret orders from Shimazu Nariakira, including plans for obtaining a military steamship, and enters into discussions with the French. Upon Nariakira's sudden death, these discussions are halted.
- Shimazu Tadayoshi succeeds Shimazu Nariakira as daimyô of Satsuma han; his father Shimazu Hisamitsu serves as regent.
- A Sino-British Treaty is signed.
Births and Deaths
- 1858/1/25 Mikimoto Kôkichi, pioneer pearl farmer, is born (d. 1954).
- 1858 March 4 - Commodore Matthew Perry dies (b. 1794).
- 1858/5/24 Tokugawa Yoshinori, daimyô of Owari han, is born (d. 1875).
- 1858/7/4 Shogun Tokugawa Iesada dies (b. 1824).
- 1858/7/16 Shimazu Nariakira, daimyô of Satsuma han, dies of food poisoning (b. 1809).
- 1858/7/16 Takami Senseki dies (b. 1785).
- 1858/9/2 Yanagawa Seigan, poet, dies (b. 1789).
- 1858/10/27 Saitô Makoto, Imperial Japanese Navy admiral and Prime Minister of Japan, is born (d. 1936).
- 1858/12/5 Inoue Taisuke, nephew of Shinsengumi captain Inoue Genzaburô, is born (d. 1927).
- Suzuki Kiitsu dies (b. 1796).
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