Meiwa

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Meiwa (明和, Meiwa^?) was a Japanese era name (年号,, nengō,^?, lit. "year name") after Hōreki and before An'ei. This period spanned the years from 1764 through 1772. The reigning empress and emperor were Go-Sakuramachi-tennō (後桜町天皇, Go-Sakuramachi-tennō^?) and Go-Momozono-tennō (後桃園天皇, Go-Momozono-tennō^?).

1 Change of era
2 Events of the Meiwa Era
3 References
- 3.1 External links

[edit] Change of era

Meiwa gannen (明和元年, Meiwa gannen^?); June 2, 1764: The era name became Meiwa (meaning "Bright Harmony") because of the enthronement of Empress Go-Sakuramachi.

[edit] Events of the Meiwa Era

Meiwa 2 (September 1765): Five-momme coin issued.
Meiwa 3 (1766): A planned insurrection to displace the Shogun was thwarted.^[1]
Meiwa 5 (1768): Five-momme usage halted.
Meiwa 7 (1770): A typhoon flattened the newly built Imperial Palace in Kyoto.^[2]
Meiwa 7 (1770): A great comet (Lexell's comet) with a very long tale lit up the night skies throughout the summer and autumn.^[2]
Meiwa 7 (1770): Although no one could have known it at the time, this was the first of 15 consecutive years of drought in Japan.^[2]
Meiwa 9 (February 29, 1772): "The Great Meiwa Fire" -- one of the three Great Edo Fires. Unofficial reports describe a swath of ashes and cinders nearly five miles wide and 15 miles long -- destroying 178 temples and shrines, 127 daimyo residences, 878 nonofficial residences, 8705 houses of Bannermen, and 628 blocks of merchant dwellings, with estimates of over 6,000 casualties. All this devastation subsequently engendered the staggering costs of reconstruction.^[2]
Meiwa 9 (August 2, 1772): A terrible tempest hit the Kantō bringing floods and ruining crops.^[2]
Meiwa 9 (August 17, 1772): Another storm with more flooding and winds no less intense blew down an estimated 4000 houses in Edo alone.^[3]
Meiwa 9 (1772): At the time, it was said that "Meiwa 9 is Year of Trouble" because it was marked by an extraordinary succession of natural calamities. The pun was made linking the words "Meiwa" + "ku" (meaning "Meiwa 9") and the sound-alike word "meiwaku" (meaning "misfortune" or "annoyance").^[2]
Meiwa 9 in the 11th month (1772): The nengō was changed to Anei (meaning "eternal tranquillity"), but this symbolic act was proved futile.^[4]

[edit] References

^ Screech, T. Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822. pp. 139-145.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hall, John. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788, p. 120.
^ Hall, p. 120.
^ Hall, p. 169.