1860
Ansei 7 (安政七年) / Man'en 1 (万延元年)
Timeline of 1860
- 1860/10 or 11 (Dec) - The steamship England, with Scottish botanist Robert Fortune (1812-1880) aboard, enters the Inland Sea.
First Japanese Embassy to the United States
- 1860/1/18 (Feb 9) The members of the first embassy to the US, 170 Japanese and some number of American escorts, depart Edo for Yokohama.
- 1860/1/19 (Feb 10) The embassy departs from Yokohama for San Francisco.
- 1860/? (Spring) The USS Powhatan stops for 14 days at Hawaii for supplies. Members of the embassy visit with King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma at the royal palace (Hale Ali'i). The latter request a Treaty of Friendship between Hawaii and Japan; this is eventually signed in 1867.
- 1860/int.3/4 (May 24) President Buchanan holds a formal banquet for the ambassadors at the White House.
- 1860/4/23 (Jun 16) The embassy arrives at Pier I in New York aboard the steamer Alida. They participate in a procession leading up Broadway to Union Square and then back down to the Metropolitan Hotel, where they stay for the duration of their time in New York. A concert is held for them at the hotel that evening.
- 1860/4/25 (Jun 18) The ambassadors receive various distinguished guests, and visit a nearby photo studio. Mayor Wood of New York holds a formal reception for the ambassadors at City Hall; Governor Morgan is also in attendance.
- 1860/5/1 (Jun 19) Due to rain, formal activities for the day are suspended.
- 1860/5/2 (Jun 20) The ambassadors receive a committee from the Chamber of Commerce while other members of the embassy go shopping, to concerts, and travel to sites in Brooklyn such as the Navy Yards and Greenwood Cemetery.
- 1860/5/3 (Jun 21) The ambassadors are received by Frederick Law Olmsted in the newly opened Central Park, and a Japanese tree is transplanted in their honor. Later in the day, members of the embassy attend a garden party at the estate of New York Herald publisher James Gordon Bennett, in Washington Heights.
- 1860/5/4 (Jun 22) Members of the embassy go shopping, and also visit various sites in the city, including Trinity Church, prisons, schools, Barnum's Museum, the Customs House, and printing presses.
- 1860/5/7 (Jun 25) Friends of Townsend Harris visit the ambassadors at the Metropolitan Hotel. A ball is held at the hotel in the evening.
- 1860/5/8 (Jun 26) The ambassadors pay a visit to Jane Perry, widow of Commodore Matthew Perry.
- 1860/5/9 (Jun 27) Members of the embassy visit various sites in the city, including harbor fortifications and a rubber factory.
- 1860/5/10 (Jun 28) Captains DuPont, Lee, and Porter are each presented with a sword blade by the embassy in recognition of their "unceasing kind services."
- 1860/5/12 (Jun 30) The embassy boards the USS Niagara and prepare for their journey back to Japan.
- 1860/5/13 (Jul 1) The USS Niagara departs New York, sailing east across the Atlantic.
- 1860/9 or 10 (Nov) The USS Niagara arrives in Edo after stops in Angola, Batavia, and Hong Kong.
Other Events of 1860
- The Second Opium War ends.
- British forces raid the Yuanmingyuan, looting many Chinese treasures, and also retaking cannon and other objects given to the Qianlong Emperor as gifts from King George III in 1793.
- France signs a treaty with China which includes clauses permitting Frenchmen to travel freely in China, and to own land in the Chinese interior.
- Makishi Chôchû, Onga Chôkô, Oroku Ryôchû, and others involved in the Makishi-Onga Incident of 1859, are tried and convicted in Ryûkyû.
- An arsonist burns down the Yoshiwara.
- Yamaguchi Naoki is appointed tsukaiban, and later in the year promoted to metsuke.
Births and Deaths
- 1860/1/7 (Jan 29) Kumano no Denkichi, translator, is killed.
- 1860/3/3 Sakuradamongai Incident - Ii Naosuke is killed (b. 1815).
- 1860/6/12 Wakadoshiyori Honda Tadanori dies.
- George Bigot is born (d. 1927).
- Anna Hartshorne is born (d. 1957).
- Tokugawa Nariaki dies (b. 1800).
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