Meiji 22 (明治二十二年)
Timeline of 1889
- 1889/1 The Imperial Court relocates from the Temporary Akasaka Palace to the newly completed palace at the center of Tokyo, which is now for the first time officially designated an "Imperial Palace" (kyûjô).
- 1889/1/14 A new portrait of Emperor Meiji is sketched by Edoardo Chiossone, on account of the emperor's refusal to be photographed.
- 1889/2/11 The Meiji Constitution is promulgated. Celebrations surrounding the promulgation constitute, perhaps, Japan's first modern, national, public ceremony of this sort.
- 1889/2/18 Tokyo Bijutsu Gakkô ("Tokyo School of Art") is founded.
- 1889/11/21 Kabuki-za opens.
Other Events of 1889
- Buddhist missionaries first arrive in Hawaii.
- Celebrations are held for the 300th anniversary of Tokugawa Ieyasu's 1590 entry into Edo.
- A group of former shogunate officials form the Edokai, a historical revisionist group.
- Eiffel Tower is completed for the Paris Exhibition of 1889, and becomes the tallest manmade structure in the world.
- Pencil drawing is replaced with brush painting in the nationwide education system.
- The Meiji Art Society (Meiji Bijutsu-kai) is founded by yôga artists as a reaction to this, and to the exclusion of Western painting from the newly established Tokyo School of Art.
- Playing card company Nintendo is founded.
- Ôkuma Shigenobu is succeeded as Foreign Minister by Aoki Shûzô.
- The Tôkaidô Main Line linking Tokyo and Kobe by railroad is completed.
- Yôga artist Yamamoto Hôsui opens his painting school, the Seikôkan.
Births and Deaths
- Painter Hirai Baisen is born (d. 1969).
- Kawanabe Kyôsai dies (b. 1831).
- Mori Arinori is assassinated (b. 1847).
- Nanbara Shigeru is born (d. 1974).
- Arthur Waley is born (d. 1968).
- Yanagi Sôetsu is born (d. 1961).
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