Changes

*Currency exchange is undertaken in [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; each copper ''[[currency|mon]]'' is replaced with 32 iron ''mon'', causing a sudden and dramatic rise in prices.

*Currency exchange is undertaken in [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]]; each copper ''[[currency|mon]]'' is replaced with 32 iron ''mon'', causing a sudden and dramatic rise in prices.

*The end of the shogunate brings with it a massive exodus from [[Edo]]; the city's population does not recover to 1868 levels until around 1890.

*The end of the shogunate brings with it a massive exodus from [[Edo]]; the city's population does not recover to 1868 levels until around 1890.

*One hundred forty-eight Japanese arrive in [[Hawaii]] under contracts as sugar plantation workers, after being shipped out of [[Yokohama]] without authorization. Arriving in the first year (''gannen'') of the Meiji period, they come to be known as ''[[gannenmono]]''.

*One hundred forty-eight Japanese arrive in [[Hawaii]] aboard the British ship ''Scioto'', under contracts as sugar plantation workers, after being shipped out of [[Yokohama]] without authorization. Arriving in the first year (''gannen'') of the Meiji period, they come to be known as ''[[gannenmono]]''.

*The terms ''han'' and ''[[shogunate|bakufu]]'' are used in an official context for the first time.

*The terms ''han'' and ''[[shogunate|bakufu]]'' are used in an official context for the first time.

*The port of [[Kobe]] (aka [[Hyogo no tsu|Hyôgo no tsu]]) is opened to Western trade.

*The port of [[Kobe]] (aka [[Hyogo no tsu|Hyôgo no tsu]]) is opened to Western trade.