Genroku

From AmericolaWiki

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
Any unsourced material that has been or is likely to be challenged may be removed at any time.
This article has been tagged since December 2006.

Genroku (Japanese: 元禄) was a Japanese era that spanned the period from 30 September 1688 to 13 March 1704. The reigning emperor was Higashiyama, the reigning Shogun was Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, nicknamed the inu kubō(いぬくぼう, 犬公方 "dog shogun"). The period followed the Jōkyō era and was followed by the Hōei era.

The era is generally considered to be the golden era of the Edo period. The previous hundred years of peace and seclusion in Japan led to economic stability, and arts and architecture flourished. To finance the splendour of the Genroku era, the Shogunate reduced the quality of coins. This caused an inflation. To solve the crisis, the Kyoho Reforms were carried out a few years after the era.

[edit] Change of era

To mark the start of Higashiyama's reign, on the 30th day of the 9th month (old calendar), Jōkyō 5 (1688), the era became Genroku (元禄, "Original happiness"?).

[edit] Events of the Genroku Era

Gannen (1688)
- First month - Ihara Saikaku publises "Japan's Eternal Treasury"
- Eleventh month - Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu assumes the office of Soba Yōnin
- Opening up of new territory on Dōjima in Ōsaka becomes possible
Genroku 2 (1689)
- Fourth month - Foreign settlements in Nagasaki become possible
Genroku 3 (1690)
- Eighth month - Dutch physician Engelbert Kaempfer arrives in Japan
- Tenth month - Abandoned Child Ban officially proclaimed
Genroku 5 (1692)
- Building of temples in Edo banned
Genroku 6 (1693)
- Twelfth month - Arai Hakuseki becomes tutor to the daimyō of Kōfu-han, the future Shōgun, Tokugawa Ienobu
Genroku 8 (1695)
- Second month - Land survey performed of Tenryō (territory under direct control of Bakufu) in Kantō
- Eight month - Minting begun of Genroku Coinage
- Eleventh month - Kennel established in Edo for stray dogs
Genroku 9 (1696)
- Crossing the sea to Takeshima banned
Genroku 13 (1700)
- Eleventh month - Exchange rate of silver coins established
Genroku 16 (1703)
- Third month - Ōishi Yoshio commits seppuku
- Fifth month - First performance of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's "Double Suicide of Sonezaki"
- Eleventh month - Great Genroku Earthquake