1885

Meiji 18 (明治十八年)

Timeline of 1885

• 1885/2/8 Nine-hundred forty-four Japanese immigrants on board the ship City of Tokio arrive in the Hawaiian Islands. They are the first Japanese to settle in the islands under contracts authorized by the Meiji government.
• 1885/6 Inoue Katsunosuke arrives in Hawaii as Special Commissioner, to investigate allegations of brutal treatment of Japanese immigrants in Hawaii.
• 1885/6/17 The Yamashiro Maru delivers 989 Japanese laborers to Hawaii.

Other Events of 1885

• John Bingham is succeeded as US minister to Japan.
• The cabinet system is instituted and Itô Hirobumi is named Prime Minister.
• A conference is held in Tokyo, where revision of the Unequal Treaties is discussed.
• Japan annexes the Daitô Islands.
• The sixth Exhibition of Old Art includes new works for the first time.
• Government-contracted immigration of Japanese to Hawaii begins.
• Percival Lowell's Choson, the Land of Morning Calm: A Sketch of Korea is published, documenting his experience in Korea in 1883.
• Mori Arinori is named Minister of Education.
• John Murray's A Handbook for Travellers in Japan is published.
• Japan exhibits at the 1885 New Orleans World's Fair.
• Repair efforts are undertaken at Nijô castle.
• Saigô Tsugumichi becomes Minister of the Navy.
• The Sino-French War comes to an end. The Chinese are forced to renounce any claims to Vietnam.
• Three girls are enrolled in elementary school in Okinawa, setting a precedent for women's education.
• Tsubouchi Shôyô's The Essence of the Novel is published.

Births and Deaths

• Princess Der Ling is born (d. 1944).
• Ulysses S. Grant dies (b. 1822).
• Iwasaki Yatarô of Mitsubishi Trading House dies (b. 1834).
• Art critic Kuroda Hôshin is born (d. 1967).
• Painter Maeda Seison is born (d. 1977).
• Morohashi Tetsuji is born (d. 1984).
• Harry Smith Parkes dies (b. 1828).
• Ezra Pound is born (d. 1972).
• Painter Yorozu Tetsugorô is born (d. 1927).

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1885

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