1639
Kan'ei 16 (寛永十六年)
Timeline of 1639
- 1639/7/5 (August 4) The final of the maritime restrictions are put into place. The construction of ocean-going vessels is banned, and all Westerners are banned from Japan, including people of mixed-race; the only exceptions are adult male employees of the Dutch East India Company, who are permitted to remain in the country but are restricted to Hirado. Roughly 30 Japanese women and their children by Dutch or British men leave for Batavia.
- 1639/8/9 Hosokawa Tadatoshi of Kokura han, along with the lords of four other major domains, are assigned duties of coastal defense.
Other Events of 1639
- Hongan-ji school is established in Kyoto; these grounds are today Ryûkoku University.
- Reconstruction efforts are completed on Matsumae castle, which was destroyed two years previous.
- Maeda Toshitsune retires as daimyô of Kaga han, and is succeeded by his son Maeda Mitsumasa.
- Russian forces moving overland across Siberia reach the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
- Eleven managers of bathhouses and other Yoshiwara operations are crucified outside the Great Gate of the district for illegal activities committed outside the quarter.
Births and Deaths
- Kuroda Tadamasa dies (b. 1612).
- Ôkubo Tadataka dies (b. 1560).
- Ôtomo Yoshinobu dies.
- Taira Shigesuke, author of Bushidô Shôshinshû, is born (d. 1730).
- Uesugi Tsunakatsu, daimyô of Yonezawa, is born (d. 1664).
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