Editing Module:Genroku

{{Short description|Period of Japanese history (1688–1704)}}
{{History of Japan |image=Shoso-in.jpg |caption=[[Shōsōin]]}}

{{nihongo|'''Genroku'''|元禄}} was a {{nihongo|[[Japanese era name]]|年号|nengō|"year name"}} after [[Jōkyō]] and before [[Hōei]]. The Genroku period spanned the years from September 1688 to March 1704.<ref>Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Genroku''" {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 239|page=239}}; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'' [http://dispatch.opac.ddb.de/DB=4.1/PPN?PPN=128842709 Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File]{{dead link|date=July 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref> The reigning emperor was {{nihongo|[[Emperor Higashiyama]]|東山天皇}}.<ref name="t415">Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 415.</ref>

The period was known for its peace and prosperity,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kim |first=Hong |date=1975 |title=The Crisis of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/45313268.pdf |journal=Current History |volume=68 |issue=404 |pages=158–182 |doi=10.1525/curh.1975.68.404.158 |jstor=45313268 |s2cid=249685135 }}</ref> as the previous hundred years of peace and seclusion in Japan had created relative economic stability. The arts and architecture flourished. There were unanticipated consequences when the [[shogunate]] debased the quality of coins as a strategy for financing the appearance of continuing Genroku affluence. This strategic miscalculation caused abrupt [[inflation]]. Then, in an effort to solve the ensuing crisis, the {{transliteration|ja|[[bakufu]]}} introduced what were called the [[Kyōhō Reforms]].

==Change of era==
The {{nihongo|first year of the Genroku period|元禄元年|Genroku gannen}} was 1688. The new era name was created to mark the beginning of the reign of [[Emperor Higashiyama of Japan|Higashiyama]]. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in Jōkyō 5, on the 30th day of the 9th month.

A sense of optimism is suggested in the era name choice of ''Genroku'' (meaning "original happiness").

==Events of the Genroku era==
[[File:Tottori feudal lord Ikedas cemetery 065.jpg|thumb|A [[bixi (tortoise)|turtle-based]] stele of [[Ikeda Mitsunaka]], a [[Tottori Domain]] ruler, dated Genroku 6]]
* '''1688''' (''Genroku 1, 1st month''):  [[Ihara Saikaku]] publishes ''Japan's Eternal Treasury''.
* '''1688''' (''Genroku 1, 11th month''): [[Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu]] assumes the office of {{transliteration|ja|[[Soba Yōnin]].}}
* '''1688''' (''Genroku 1''): The [[Tokugawa shogunate]] revised the code of conduct for funerals ({{transliteration|ja|Fuku-kiju-ryō}}), which incorporated a code of conduct for mourning as well.<ref>Smith, Robert ''et al.'' (2004). ''Japanese Culture: Its Development And Characteristics'', p. 28.</ref>
* '''1689''' (''Genroku 2, 4th month''): [[Nagasaki foreign settlement|Foreign settlements]] in [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] become possible.
* '''September 16, 1689''' (''Genroku 2, 3rd day of the 7th month'')<!-- NengoCalc:
元禄二年八月三日 -->: German [[physician]] [[Engelbert Kaempfer]] arrives at [[Dejima]].<ref>Screech, T. (2006). ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822'', p. 73.</ref>
* '''1690''' (''Genroku 3, 10th month''): The Abandoned Child Ban was officially proclaimed.
* '''1692''' (''Genroku 5''): Building of temples in [[Edo]] banned.
* '''1693''' (''Genroku 6, 12th month''): [[Arai Hakuseki]] becomes tutor to the {{transliteration|ja|[[daimyō]]}} of [[Kōfu]]-{{transliteration|ja|[[Han (Japan)|han]]}}, the future {{transliteration|ja|[[shōgun]]}} [[Tokugawa Ienobu]].
* '''1693''' (''Genroku 6''): The code of conduct for funerals is revised again.<ref>Smith, p. 28.</ref>
* '''1695''' (''Genroku 8, 2nd month''): Land survey performed of territory under the direct control of the {{transliteration|ja|bakufu}} in [[Kantō]].
* '''1695''' (''Genroku 8, 8th month''): Minting begun of Genroku coinage. The shogunate placed the Japanese character {{nihongo||元|gen}} on the obverse of copper coins, the same character used today in China for the {{transliteration|zh|[[Chinese yuan|yuan]]}}. There is no connection between those uses, however.<ref name="t415" />
* '''1695''' (''Genroku 8, 11th month''): First kennel is established for stray dogs in [[Edo]]. In this context, [[Tokugawa Tsunayoshi]] comes to be nicknamed "the Dog {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}}".
[[File:1696 Genroku 9 (early Edo) Japanese Map of Kyoto, Japan - Geographicus - Kyoto-genroku9-1696.jpg|thumb|Map of Kyoto and immediate vicinity, {{circa|1696}}. Like most early Japanese maps, this map does not have a firm directional orientation, rather all text radiates out from the center.]]
* '''1697''' (''Genroku 10''): The fourth official map of Japan ({{transliteration|ja|[[Genroku kuniezu]]}}) was made in this year, but it was considered to be inferior to the previous one—which had been ordered in [[Shōhō]] 1 (1605) and completed in Kan'ei 16 (1639). This map was corrected in [[Kyōhō]] 4 (1719) by the mathematician Tatebe Katahiro (1644–1739), using high mountain peaks as points of reference, and was drawn to a scale of 1:21,600.<ref>Traganeou, Jilly. (2004). ''The Tokaido Road: Traveling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan''</ref>{{rp|230}}
* '''1697''' (''Genroku 10''): Great fire in Edo.<ref name="t415" />
* '''1698''' (''Genroku 11''): Another great fire in Edo. A new hall is constructed inside the enclosure of the Edo temple of [[Kan'ei-ji]] (which is also known as [[Tōeizan Kan'ei-ji]] or "Hiei-san of the east" after the temple of [[Enryaku-ji]] at [[Mount Hiei]] near to [[Heian-kyō]]).<ref name="t415" />
* '''1700''' (''Genroku 13, 11th month''): Exchange rate of [[silver]] [[coin]]s established.
* '''1703''' (''Genroku 15, 12th month''): [[Akō Domain]] incident involving the [[Forty-seven rōnin|47 {{transliteration|ja|rōnin}}]].
* '''1703''' (''Genroku 16, 3rd month''): [[Ōishi Yoshio]] commits [[seppuku|ritual suicide]].
* '''1703''' (''Genroku 16, 5th month''): First performance of [[Chikamatsu Monzaemon]]'s play ''[[The Love Suicides at Sonezaki]]''.
* '''December 31, 1703''' (''Genroku 16, 23rd day of the 11th month'')<!-- NengoCalc: 元禄十六年十一月二十三日 -->: The [[1703 Genroku earthquake|Great Genroku earthquake]] shook Edo and parts of the shogun's castle collapsed.<ref name="h63">Hammer, Joshua. (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=6O8VyhDbUPgC&q=yokohama+burning ''Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II'', p. 63.]</ref> The following day, a vast fire spread throughout the city.<ref name="t415" /> Parts of Honshū's coast were battered by tsunami, and up to 200,000 people were either killed or injured.<ref name="h63" />

==Prominent figures of the Genroku era==
* [[Chikamatsu Monzaemon]]—{{transliteration|ja|[[jōruri (music)|jōruri]]}} playwright
* [[Ichikawa Danjūrō I]], [[Sakata Tōjūrō I]], [[Yoshizawa Ayame I]]—kabuki actors
* [[Ihara Saikaku]]—novelist
* [[Arai Hakuseki]]—Confucian scholar and shogunal advisor
* The [[Forty-seven rōnin|Forty-seven {{transliteration|ja|rōnin}}]]
* [[Ogata Kōrin]] and [[Ogata Kenzan]]—[[Rinpa school]] artists
* [[Torii Kiyonobu]], [[Hishikawa Moronobu]], [[Miyagawa Chōshun]]—[[ukiyo-e]] artists
* [[Matsuo Bashō]]—[[Haiku]] poet

==See also==
* [[Genroku culture]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Hammer, Joshua. (2006). ''Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II''. New York: [[Simon & Schuster]]. {{ISBN|9780743264655}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/67774380  OCLC 67774380]
* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia''. Cambridge: [[Harvard University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01753-5}}; [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48943301/editions?editionsView=true&referer=br OCLC 48943301]
* [[Timon Screech|Screech, Timon.]] (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=BLzQA7cpr7wC ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822''.] London: [[RoutledgeCurzon]]. {{ISBN|978-0-203-09985-8}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65177072 OCLC 65177072]
* Smith, Robert John and Richard K. Beardsley. (2004). ''Japanese Culture: Its Development And Characteristics''. London: [[Routledge]]. {{ISBN|0-415-33039-4}}
* [[Isaac Titsingh|Titsingh, Isaac]]. (1834). ''[[Nihon Ōdai Ichiran]]''; ou, [https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&q=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran  ''Annales des empereurs du Japon''.]  Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5850691 OCLC 5850691].
* Traganeou, Jilly. (2004). ''The Metaphorical Road of the Tōkaid: Traveling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan''. London: [[RoutledgeCurzon]]. {{ISBN|9780415310918}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52347509  OCLC 52347509]

==External links==
* [[National Diet Library]], "The Japanese Calendar" [http://www.ndl.go.jp/koyomi/e/ -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection]
* [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=102799&imageID=481247&word=japan&s=1&notword=&d=&c=&f=&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&total=1807&num=612&imgs=12&pNum=&pos=622# New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Engelbert Kaempfer's 1691 impression of Hōkō-ji compound (published 1727)]

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before = {{nihongo|[[Jōkyō]]|貞享}}
| title = [[Japanese era name|Era or ''nengō'']]<br>{{nihongo|Genroku|元禄}}
| years = 1688–1704
| after = {{nihongo|[[Hōei]]|宝永}}
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Japanese era name}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Genroku}}
[[Category:Japanese eras]]
[[Category:1680s in Japan]]
[[Category:1690s in Japan]]
[[Category:1700s in Japan]]
[[Category:17th-century neologisms]]