Keiō

964–968	Kōhō
968–970	Anna
970–973	Tenroku
973–976	Ten'en
976–978	Jōgen
978–983	Tengen
983–985	Eikan
985–987	Kanna
987–988	Eien
988–990	Eiso
990–995	Shōryaku
995–999	Chōtoku
999–1004	Chōhō
1004–1012	Kankō
1012–1017	Chōwa
1017–1021	Kannin
1021–1024	Jian
1024–1028	Manju
1028–1037	Chōgen
1037–1040	Chōryaku

806–810	Daidō
810–824	Kōnin
824–834	Tenchō
834–848	Jōwa
848–851	Kashō
851–854	Ninju
854–857	Saikō
857–859	Ten'an
859–877	Jōgan
877–885	Gangyō
885–889	Ninna
889–898	Kanpyō
898–901	Shōtai
901–923	Engi
923–931	Enchō
931–938	Jōhei
938–947	Tengyō
947–957	Tenryaku
957–961	Tentoku
961–964	Ōwa

645–650	Taika
650–654	Hakuchi
686–686	Shuchō
701–704	Taihō
704–708	Keiun
708–715	Wadō
Nara
715–717	Reiki
717–724	Yōrō
724–729	Jinki
729–749	Tenpyō
749	Tenpyō-kanpō
749–757	Tenpyō-shōhō
757–765	Tenpyō-hōji
765–767	Tenpyō-jingo
767–770	Jingo-keiun
770–781	Hōki
781–782	Ten'ō
782–806	Enryaku

Keiō (慶応, historically 慶應) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, literally "year name") after Genji and before Meiji. The period spanned the years from May 1865 to October 1868.^[1] The reigning emperors were Kōmei-tennō (孝明天皇) and Meiji-tennō (明治天皇).

Change of era

May 1, 1865 (Genji 2/Keiō 1, 7th day of the 4th month) Keiō gannen (慶応元年): The new era name of Keiō (meaning "Jubilant Answer") was created to mark the Kinmon Incident. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Genji 2.

Events of the Keiō era

1866 (Keiō 2): Goryōkaku completed
August 29, 1866 (Keiō 2, 20th day of the 7th month): Shōgun Iemochi died at Osaka; and the bakufu petitioned that Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu should be appointed as his successor.^[2]
January 10, 1867 (Keiō 2, 5th day of the 12th month): Yoshinobu was appointed shōgun.^[2]
January 30, 1867 (Keiō 2, 25th day of the 12th month): Emperor Komei died.^[2]
February 13, 1867 (Keiō 3, 9th day of the 1st month): Mutsuhito ascended to the throne as Emperor Meiji.^[3]
November 10, 1867 (Keiō 3, 15th day of the 10th month): An Imperial edict was issued sanctioning the restoration of Imperial government.^[2]
January 6, 1868 (Keiō 3, 10th day of the 12th month):^[4] The restoration of the Imperial government was announced to the kuge. The year 1868 began as Keio 3, and did not become Meiji 1 until the 8th day of the 9th month of Keio 4, i.e., October 23; although retrospectively, it was quoted as the first year of the new era from 25 January onwards.^[2]
January 27, 1868 (Keiō 4, 3rd of the 1st month): The Boshin War begins with the Battle of Toba–Fushimi.
September 3, 1868 (Keiō 4, 17th day of the 7th month): Edo was renamed "Tokyo", i.e. meaning "Eastern Capital".^[5]
October 8, 1868 (Keiō 4, 23rd of the 8th month): Battle of Aizu begins.
October 12, 1868 (Keiō 4, 27th day of the 8th month): Emperor Meiji is crowned in the Shishin-den in Kyoto.^[6]
October 23, 1868 (Keiō 4/Meiji 1, 8th day of the 9th month): The nengō is formally changed from Keiō to Meiji; and a general amnesty is granted.^[6] The adoption of the Meiji nengō was done retroactively to January 25, 1868 (Keiō 4/Meiji 1, 1st day of the 1st month).

Keio University

Keio University, which was initially established in 1858 (Ansei 5), seven years before the beginning of the Keiō era, is named after this era. This is the oldest existing institution of higher learning in Japan.^[7]

Notes

^ Nussbaum (2005), p. 505, "Keiō".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ponsonby-Fane (1956), p. 326.
^ Keene (2002), p. 98.
^ Ponsonby-Fane's published nengō would have this be 4 January rather than 6 January.
^ Ponsonby-Fane (1956), p. 327.
^ ^a ^b Ponsonby-Fane (1956), p. 328.
^ Ozaki (2001), p. 21.

References

Keene, Donald (2002). Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852–1912. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231123402. OCLC 46731178.
Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Translated by Käthe Roth. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5. OCLC 48943301. n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File Archived 2012-05-24 at archive.today.
Ozaki, Yukio (2001). The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in Japan. Translated by Fujiko Hara. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691050959. OCLC 45363447.
Ponsonby-Fane, Richard A. B. (1956). Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869. Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 559477127.