Shōhō Explained

was a after Kan'ei and before Keian. This period spanned the years from December 1644 through February 1648.^[1] The reigning emperor was .^[2]

Change of era

• 1644 : The era name was changed to Shōhō to mark the enthronement of the new emperor Go-Kōmyō. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Kan'ei 21, on the 16th day of the 12th month.^[3]

Events of the Shōhō era

• 1644 (Shōhō 1): The third major map of Japan was ordered by the Tokugawa Shogunate—the first having been completed in Keichō 10—at a scale of 1:432,000 (based on maps of the provinces drawn to a scale of 1:21,600).^[4]
• May 18, 1645 (Shōhō 2, 23rd day of the 4th month): The Shōgun was elevated the court role of .^[2]
• June 13, 1645 (Shōhō 2, 19th day of the 5th month): Death of Miyamoto Musashi.
• December 1645 (Shōhō 3): Death of Takuan Sōhō, a leading figure in the Zen reform movement.^[3]
• January 18, 1646 (Shōhō 2, 2nd day of the 12th month): Death of Hosokawa Tadaoki.
• May 11, 1646 (Shōhō 3, 26th day of the 3rd month): Death of Yagyū Munenori.
• 1648 (Shōhō 6): The shogunate issues a legal code governing the lives of commoners in Edo.^[3]

References

• Hall, John Whitney. (1997). The Cambridge History of Japan: Early Modern Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ;
• Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 48943301
• Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ; OCLC 65177072
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Traganeou, Jilly. (2004). The Tokaido Road: Traveling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan. London: RoutledgeCurzon.

External links

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection
• National Archives of Japan map of Edo in the 1st or 2nd year of Shōhō (1644 or 1645)

Notes and References

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Shōhō" in Japan encyclopedia, p. 881; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File .
2. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 412.
3. Hall, John Whitney. The Cambridge History of Japan. p. xx.
4. Traganeou, Jilly. (2004). The Tokaido Road: Traveling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan, p. 230.