Kan'ei 17 (寛永十七年)

Timeline of 1640

Other Events

  • Shogunal post of Shûmon kaiyaku is created to oversee and enforce the bans on Christianity. Ô-metsuke Inoue Masashige is the first appointed to the post.
  • 57 of approximately 70 Portuguese sailors who sailed from Macao to Japan bearing gifts in an attempt to regain Portuguese trading and missionary rights in Japan are executed.
  • Ayutthaya dispatches an envoy to request the resumption of trade and relations with Japan. The ship succumbs to typhoon or inclement weather and never makes it to Japan.
  • Shimabara pleasure district in Kyoto is established.
  • Ban on onna-kabuki is reissued.
  • The shogunate forbids the Yoshiwara to operate at night.
  • Shogunate begins using nengô (Japanese era names) in correspondence with China, indicating a lessened acknowledgment of Chinese authority or centrality.
Previous Year
1639
1640 Following Year
1641