1648

Shôhô 5 (正保五年) / Keian 1 (慶安元年)

Timeline of 1648

• 1648/2 The shogunate issues a series of laws regulating commoners' behaviors.
• 1648/2/15 The Keian era begins.

Other Events of 1648

• Akô castle in Harima province is completed.
• The Peace of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years' War, and marks the emergence of the modern/Western concept of the nation-state. Spain recognizes the independence of the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
• The shogunate issues various edicts regulating the lives of commoners in Edo.
• The shogunate bans kabuki actors and dancers from engaging in homosexual activity.
• The shogunate bans screens from kabuki theatres, which had been installed to help high-ranking samurai and others visit discreetly.
• The shogunate bans yuna (bathhouse girls) and male prostitutes.
• The shogunate expands/refines sankin kôtai procedures to include obligations on the part of each daimyô's heir to pay formal visits to Edo castle as well.

Births and Deaths

• Nakae Tôjû dies (b. 1608).
• Nishikawa Joken is born (d. 1724).

Previous Year 1647

1648

Following Year 1649