1875

Meiji 8 (明治八年)

Timeline of 1875

• 1875/4/10 The Meiji Emperor and the Daijô-kan (Council of State) establish Japan's first national decoration in the European style, the Order of the Rising Sun.

Ryûkyû Shobun

• 1875/3 Okinawan tribute mission is dispatched to China.
• 1875/3/17 A series of statements by French legal advisor to the Meiji government Gustave Emile Boissonade on the matter of Ryûkyû are submitted to the Ministry of the Interior. In them, he congratulates the government on gaining official Chinese recognition of the Ryukyuan people as Japanese subjects, and suggests that Ryûkyû be governed somewhat indirectly, in the manner of a colony. This suggestion is ultimately rejected in favor of a full annexation plan articulated by Ôkubo Toshimichi, in accordance with policy stances taken since the Bakumatsu period, that Japan claimed sovereign and territorial rights over its subject states and subject peoples, a concept incompatible with the somewhat more removed or indirect concept of ruling a 'colony.'
• 1875/3/18 Ikegusuku ueekata, Yonabaru ueekata, Kôchi Peechin, and eight attendants meet with Japanese officials at the Ministry of the Interior.
• 1875/3/25 Matsuda Michiyuki steps down as governor of Shiga prefecture to take a position with the Ministry of the Interior.
• 1875/3/21-5/4 Ryukyuan envoys meet with Matsuda Michiyuki.
• 1875/6 Shô Tai is rebuked for not severing independent (tributary) ties with China in light of the 1872 conversion of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû into Ryûkyû han and de jure annexation of the territory by Japan.
• 1875/6/10 Matsuda Michiyuki has an audience with Emperor Meiji, and is named Shobun-kan, or "Disposition Officer."
• 1875/6/12 Matsuda Michiyuki departs Shinagawa with over 70 men.
• 1875/7/10 Matsuda arrives in Naha.
• 1875/7/14 Matsuda enters Shuri castle and meets with Prince Nakijin, issuing a series of demands, the majority of which are rejected entirely by the Ryukyuan court.
• 1875/9/11 Ikegusuku ueekata and several other Ryukyuan officials accompany Matsuda as he departs Naha to return to Tokyo.
• 1875/10/15 Ikegusuku ueekata submits his formal letter of complaint, and remains in Tokyo for one year, continuing to reject Japanese demands on behalf of the Ryukyuan court.

Other Events of 1875

• Aizu-Wakamatsu castle is torn down.
• Meiji system of censorship is put into place.
• The Enzetsukan ("Hall of Public Speaking") at Keiô University, commissioned by Fukuzawa Yukichi based on the architectural style of New England meetinghouses, is completed.
• Many officials of the government of the Kingdom of Ryûkyû are attacked politically for collaborating with and submitting to Japanese authority; Giwan Chôho is among those who resign in disgrace.
• Japan's territorial agreements with Russia are revised; the Kuril Islands become Japanese territory, in exchange for Japanese renunciation of claims to Sakhalin.
• Many structures are torn down at Matsumae castle.
• Merriman Harris becomes Acting Consul of the United States in Japan, upon the death of his predecessor.
• Morita-za kabuki theater in Tokyo is renamed Shintomi-za.
• Niijima Jo founds Dôshisha English School, which later becomes Dôshisha University.
• The British quietly give up their official claim to the Ogasawara Islands.
• Ryûkyû's tribute and investiture relationship with Qing Dynasty China is severed. The Ryûkyû-kan in Fuzhou is abolished as an institution.
• Ryûkyû adopts the use of the Meiji era name in its dating of official documents, etc.
• Shiroishi castle is torn down.
• King Shô Tai is ordered to journey to Tokyo.
• Prince Shô In is named "Ginowan ueekata"; Giwan Chôho has his title changed to "Giwan ueekata" as a result.
• Takashima castle is demolished.
• In the United States, the Asian Exclusion Act is passed, denying entry into the country of Chinese laborers who do not come to the US voluntarily; the law is meant chiefly to stem the tide of Chinese women being brought into the country against their wills to serve as prostitutes, but many other men and women are caught up in the law's effects. This is the first immigration law implemented in the US based explicitly on race/nationality.
• The Yoshiwara, and the brothels, teahouses, and prostitutes of a number of other areas come under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.

Births and Deaths

• 1875/10/16 Princess Kaiulani is born.
• Prince Kacho Hiroatsu is born.
• Otagaki Rengetsu dies (b. 1791).
• Tokugawa Yoshinori dies.
• Nihonga painter Uemura Shôen is born (d. 1949).
• Yanagita Kunio is born.
• Nihonga painter Yûki Somei is born (d. 1957).
• Zhang Zuolin is born (d. 1928).

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