1808
Bunka 5 (文化五年)
Timeline of 1808
- 1808/4 Mamiya Rinzô surveys Sakhalin.
- 1808/6 Sakhalin is confirmed to be an island, and not a peninsula of the Asian mainland.
- 1808/8/25-28 Phaeton Incident - HMS Phaeton enters Nagasaki harbor, with the intention of attacking Dutch East India Company ships, capturing several Dutchmen, and threatening Japanese and Chinese as well. The Phaeton eventually leaves after receiving supplies and learning that the Dutch ships would not be arriving that year.
- 1808/10/15 Ten officers from Saga han, commanders of the gun batteries at Nagasaki, are placed under house arrest until the following year; Seki Dennojô, Nagasaki intelligence officer from Saga, is stripped of his office.
- 1808/11/10 The order is given to place Saga han daimyô Nabeshima Narinao under house arrest.
- 1808/11/24 The order to place Nabeshima Naomasa under house arrest arrives in Saga.
Other Events of 1808
- Booklenders outnumber public baths in Edo 656 to 523.
- Chinese investiture envoys visit Ryûkyû.
- Kabuki play Kuruwa Bunshô premieres.
Births and Deaths
- 1808/9/27 Chiba Saburôemon and Kanbara Jiemon, Saga samurai and heads of the defenses at Nagasaki, commit seppuku.
- Painter Kanô Korenobu dies (b. 1753).
- Nagasaki bugyô Matsudaira Yasuhira commits suicide.
- Matsumoto Saburô, chief counselor to Fukahori han, commits suicide.
- Kabuki playwright Namiki Gohei I dies (b. 1747).
- Udono Kyûô, head of the Roshigumi, is born (d. 1869).
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