1854

Kaei 7 (嘉永七年) / Ansei 1 (安政元年)

Timeline of 1854

• Kaei 6/12/22-26 (Jan 20-24) Perry's fourth visit to Ryûkyû. Commodore Perry enters Shuri castle for the second time, as a mere show of authority, but is not granted an audience with any royals.
• 1854/1/4-5 (Feb 1-2) Perry departs Ryûkyû for Edo.
• 1854/1/11-24 (Feb 8-21) A Russian fleet under Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin makes port in Naha.
• 1854/1/14 (Feb 11) Perry's fleet arrives at Edo Bay.
• 1854/2/29 (March 27) Crimean War: Britain and France declare war on Russia.
• 1854/3/3 (March 31) The Convention of Kanagawa is concluded.
• 1854/3/23 Putyatin's fleet arrives once again at Nagasaki.
• 1854/4/5 The USS Saratoga makes port in Honolulu on its way back to the US from Japan.
• 1854/5/17 (June 12) Board Incident - American sailor William Board assaults an old woman in Naha and is killed by a mob of locals.
• 1854/6/2 (June 26) Perry and his fleet depart Shimoda for the final time.
• 1854/6/7 (July 1) Perry arrives in Ryûkyû for the fifth time.
• 1854/6/17 (July 11) The Treaty of Amity between the Ryûkyû Kingdom and the United States is signed by Commodore Perry and the Ryukyuan officials Shô Kôkun and Ba Ryôsai.
• 1854/6/23 (July 17) Perry and his fleet depart Ryûkyû for Hong Kong, taking Bernard Bettelheim with them.
• 1854/int.7/15 (Sept 7) Rear Admiral Sir James Stirling comes to Nagasaki with four ships, seeking to attack Putyatin.
• 1854/8/23 (Oct 14) The Anglo-Japanese Convention of 1854 is signed.
• 1854/9/18 (Nov 8) Putyatin's fleet, led by the Diana, returns to Japan, landing first at Osaka, before being told to go to Shimoda instead.
• 1854/11/4 (Dec 23) Ansei-Tôkai Earthquake: An earthquake and tsunami strike Shimoda and surrounding areas.
• 1854/11/9 Ansei-Nankai Earthquake: An earthquake and tsunami hit the Nankaidô region.

Other Events of 1854

• In response to the arrival of the Black Ships and of Putyatin, the bakufu calls for all bells in the country to be melted down and refashioned into cannon and rifles - with the exception of bells at head temples (honzan), those used for timekeeping, and those of great age and fame.
• The Buke shohatto are re-promulgated.
• Ichikawa Ebizô V leads a troupe on a kabuki tour in Kamigata (Kansai).
• Reconstuction of Matsumae castle, begun in 1849, is completed.
• Construction on the tenshu of Matsuyama castle (Iyo), begun in 1820, is completed.
• Expeditionary forces of the Russia-America Company occupy Sakhalin Island; the action, and subsequent Russian claims to the island, are justified by Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin based on the concepts of terra nullius and 'prior occupation.'
• Sakamoto Ryôma completes training in Chiba and returns to Tosa han.

Births and Deaths

• Kaei 6/12/26 (Jan 24) Eli Crosby, 2nd assistant engineer on the USS Susquehanna, dies and is later buried in the Tomari International Cemetery.
• 1854/2/8 (March 6) US Marine Private Robert Williams, a member of the crew of the USS Mississippi, dies and is buried at Zôtoku-in in Yokohama; his body is later moved to Gyokusen-ji in Shimoda.
• 1854/8/18 (Oct 9) Translator Nishi Kichibei is found dead in his home.
• 1854/9/28 (Nov 18) John Miller, Captain Aft G on the USS Vincennes, dies in the Ryukyus and is later buried in Tomari.
• 1854/10/1 (Nov 20) John Williams of the USS Vincennes dies in the Ryukyus and is later buried in Tomari.
• American sailor William Board is killed in Naha, and is buried in Tomari.
• Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII commits suicide while on tour in Osaka (b. 1823).
• Shinsengumi member Ichimura Tetsunosuke is born.
• Architect Katayama Tôkuma is born (d. 1917).
• Tsubaki Chinzan dies (b. 1801).
• Yamanouchi Toyoatsu, daimyô of Tosa han, dies (b. 1825).

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