was a after Kaei

Kaei

was a after Kōka and before Ansei. This period spanned the years from February 1848 through November 1854. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:...

and before Man'en. This period spanned the years from November 1854 through March 1860. The reigning emperor was .

Change of era

• November 27, 1854 : The new era name of Ansei (meaning "tranquil government") was created to herald the beginning of a peaceful period. The impetus and explanation for this change of era names was said to have been the burning of the Palace in Kyoto in the preceding summer.

The new era name was derived from an hortatory aphorism: "Rule peacefully over the masses, then the ruler will remain in his place" (庶民安政、然後君子安位矣).

Although the notion seems appealing, the arrival of the Black Ships

Black Ships

The Black Ships was the name given to Western vessels arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries.In 1543 Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a trade route linking Goa to Nagasaki...

 and Commodore Matthew C. Perry is not specifically recognized as a factor in the change of era names.

Events of the Ansei era

• 1855 (Ansei 2): Work was begun on re-constructing the Imperial Palace after the devastating fire of Kaei
  Kaei
  was a after Kōka and before Ansei. This period spanned the years from February 1848 through November 1854. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:...
  
  7, and the project was completed in nine months.
• 1855 (Ansei 2, 21st day of the 11th month): The emperor moved into the reconstructed palace, having previously lived in the Shōgo-in and then Katsura-no-miya
  Katsura-no-miya
  The ' was the one of the four shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japan which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the event that the main line should die out. It was founded by Prince Toshihito, a grandson of Emperor Ōgimachi and brother of Emperor Go-Yōzei...
  
  . The people were permitted to view the grand Imperial progress.
• November 11, 1855 (Ansei 2): Great Ansei Earthquake
  1855 Ansei Edo earthquake
  The , also known as the Great Ansei Earthquake, was one of the major disasters of the late-Edo period. The earthquake occurred at 22:00 local time on 11 November. It had an epicenter close to Edo , causing considerable damage in the Kantō region from the shaking and subsequent fires, with a death...
  
   in Edo, one of the Ansei Great Quakes
  Ansei Great Quakes
  The Ansei Great Earthquakes were a series of three major earthquakes that struck Japan during the Ansei era ....
  
  , with resulting fire damage and loss of life. Epicenter -- (Latitude: 36.000/Longitude: 140.000), 6.9 magnitude on the Richter Scale.
• November 15, 1857 (Ansei 4): Nagasaki Medical School is opened. Dr. Pompe van Meerdevoort gave the first formal public lecture on medical and surgical sciences at the new school, which became as well the first such lecture to be delivered in any Japanese venue.
• 1858-1860 (Ansei 4-Ansei 6): Cholera
  Cholera
  Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
  
   outbreak is believed to have killed between 100,000 and 200,000 people in Edo
  Edo
  , also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
  
   alone.
• April 9, 1858 (Ansei 5): The 1858 Hietsu earthquake
  1858 Hietsu earthquake
  The took place on April 9, 1858 . It occurred on the Atotsugawa Fault, which connects the Amō Pass in Gifu Prefecture and Mount Tate in Toyama Prefecture on the island of Honshū in Japan. Its name includes one kanji from and one from...
  
   kills hundreds.
• 1858 (Ansei 5): The initial establishment of Keio University
  Keio University
  ,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...
  
  , seven years before the beginning of the Keio era; nevertheless, the university was named after the later era. This is the oldest existing institution of higher learning in Japan.
• July 29, 1959 (Ansei 5): Tairo
  Tairo
  Tairō was a high-ranking official position in the bakuhan taisei government of Japan. The tairō would preside over the governing Rōjū council in the event of an emergency. A tairō would be nominated from among a group of samurai families who supported Tokugawa Ieyasu...
  
   Ii Naosuke
  Ii Naosuke
  was daimyo of Hikone and also Tairō of Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858 until his death on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Harris Treaty with the United States, granting access to ports for trade to American merchants and seamen and...
  
   signs Japanese-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce (also known as the "Harris Treaty"), which was a follow-up to the 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa.
• 1858 (Ansei 5): Beginning of Ansei Purge
  Ansei Purge
  The Ansei Purge was a purge, in 1858 and 1859, of over 100 people from the bakufu, various han, and the Japanese Imperial court...
  
   at the order of Ii Naosuke on behalf of the bakufu.
• 1860 (Ansei 7): Fire at Edo Castle
  Edo Castle
  , also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is located in Chiyoda in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, and also...
  
  .

• March 24, 1860 (Ansei 7): Ii Naosuke was assassinated, also known as the "Sakurada-mon Incident
  Sakuradamon incident (1860)
  The on 24 March 1860 was the assassination of Japanese Chief Minister Ii Naosuke , by rōnin samurai of the Mito Domain, outside the Sakuradamon gate of Edo Castle.-Context:...
  
  "

External links

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection
• National Diet Library, photograph of Sakurada-mon (1909)
• Text of Treaty of Peace and Amity (1858)

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Gregorian Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...	1854	1855	1856	1857	1858	1859	1860