1791

Kansei 3 (寛政三年)

Timeline of 1791

• Kansei 2/11-12 Ryukyuan embassy sojourns in Edo, and then returns to Ryûkyû.
• 1791/1 Mixed gender bathing is forbidden in the public baths of Edo.
• 1791/3 Writer and artist Santô Kyôden is punished by having his hands manacled for 50 days, for having created a number of sharebon and kibyôshi which violated the Kansei Reforms censorship provisions. His publisher, Tsutaya Jûzaburô, has half his wealth confiscated by the authorities.
• 1791 May 6-17 John Kendrick lands on Kii Ôshima and becomes the first American on Japanese soil.
• 1791/9 Provisions are put into place to control the traffic of foreign ships in and around Nagasaki.
• 1791/12 The shichibu tsumikin provision is established, by which the Tokugawa shogunate helped contribute to village expenses.

Other Events of 1791

• Sharebon authors are paid for their efforts for the first time.
• Kiwame ("censors' seals") are required to appear on all ukiyo-e prints published, along with the designer's (artist's) signature and publisher's seal.
• Nguyen Hue, king of Vietnam, travels to Beijing to express formal birthday congratulations to the Qianlong Emperor.

Births and Deaths

• Catholics are persecuted to death in Korea for the first time.
• Painter Ekin is born (d. 1841).
• Ichikawa Ebizô V, kabuki actor, is born (d. 1859).
• Artist Ippitsusai Bunchô dies.
• Nakamura Utaemon I dies (b. 1719).
• Painter Otagaki Rengetsu is born (d. 1875).
• Chinese diplomat Quan Kui dies.

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