1883

Meiji 16 (明治十六年)

Timeline of 1883

• 1883/7 The Rokumeikan, designed by Josiah Conder, is completed.
• 1883/11/28 The Rokumeikan is officially opened.

Other Events of 1883

• Bunkio Matsuki opens the first Japanese store in Boston, Massachusetts, and builds the first Japanese house in Salem, Massachusetts.
• The third issue of Dainihon bijutsu shinpô uses the term Nihonga, marking the beginning of standard use of the term, particularly in describing works in traditional media (ink and mineral colors) as contrasted against yôga - Western-style works in oils.
• A Japanese delegation including Nagasaki Seigo, Sugi Magoshichirô, and Ishibashi Masakata, attends the coronation of King Kalakaua of Hawaii, and establishes a permanent consulate there.
• Krakatoa erupts in Indonesia, spewing ash into the atmosphere which has effects worldwide, affecting the color of the sky, climate/weather, etc.
• The military conscription law is revised, with an expansion of army & naval expenditures, in preparation, according to Yamagata Aritomo, for war on the continent.
• Representatives of Japan attend the coronation of King Kalakaua of Hawaii.
• The Sino-French War breaks out.
• The Technical Art School in Tokyo is closed down.
• Uesugi Mochinori is replaced as Governor of Okinawa Prefecture.
• Zensho-an temple is established for the souls of those killed in the Meiji Restoration.

Births and Deaths

• 1883/1/1 Hatoyama Ichirô, future Prime Minister of Japan, born (d. 1959).
• 1883/2/15 Prince Kacho Hiroatsu dies (b. 1875)
• 1883/4/11 Hozumi Shigeto, author, born (d. 1951).
• 1883/11/12 Atsu-hime, wife of Tokugawa Iesada, dies (b. 1836).
• 1883/12/14 Ueshiba Morihei, founder of aikido, born (d. 1969).
• Nihonga artist Hashimoto Kansetsu is born (d. 1945).
• Iwakura Tomomi dies (b. 1825).
• Shin hanga artist Kawase Hasui is born (d. 1957).
• Kita Ikki is born (d. 1937).
• George Sansom, historian of Japan, born (d. 1965).
• Artist Takamura Kôtarô is born (d. 1956).

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