Imperial Japan

1800

Jan 1, 1800

The Tokugawa shogunate had ruled the Japanese islands for two hundred years.

1853

Jan 1, 1853

An American fleet of four warships under Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Edo Bay (now Tokyo Bay).

1858

Jan 1, 1858

U.S. consul Townsend Harris signed a more detailed treaty. It called for the opening of several new ports to U.S. trade and residence, as well as an exchange of ministers.

1863

Jan 1, 1863

The Sat-Cho alliance (from Satsuma-Choshu) forced the shogun to promise to end relations with the West.

1868

Jan 22, 1868

The Sat-Cho leaders demanded that the shogun resign and restore the power of the emperor; their armies attacked the shogun’s palace in Kyoto and proclaimed that the authority of the emperor had been restored. After a few weeks, the sho- gun’s forces collapsed, ending the shogunate system.

1889

Jan 23, 1889

http://www.geidai.ac.jp/english/art/outline.htmlthe Tokyo School of Fine Arts was established to pro- mote traditional Japanese art.

1904

Jan 23, 1904

Japan launched a surprise attack on the Russian naval base at Port Arthur, which Russia had taken from China in 1898.

1905

Jan 23, 1905

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/514017/Russo-Japanese-War Japan defeats Russia

1907

Jan 23, 1907

President Theodore Roosevelt made a “gentlemen’s agreement” with Japan that essentially stopped Japanese immigration to the United States.

1910

Jan 23, 1910

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xWot6Ld5GkJapan annexed Korea outright.