Bunkyū

Change of era

• March 29, 1861 Bunkyū gannen: The new era name of Bunkyū was created because of a belief drawn from Chinese astrology that the 58th year of any zodiacal cycle brings great changes. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Man'en 2.

  Events of the ''Bunkyū'' era

• 1861 : Ukai Gyokusen established the first commercial photography studio in Edo.
• January 1862 : The Bonin Islands are re-confirmed as a territory of Japan, following up "discovery" of the islands in Kanbun 10 and a shogunate expedition to the islands in Enpō 3.
• 1862 : The Bunkyū Reforms relax restrictions on daimyōs which had been imposed by former Tairō Ii Naosuke in the Ansei era.
• September 14, 1862 : Namamugi Incident. Satsuma retainers kill English merchant Charles Lennox Richardson at Namamugi on the Tōkaidō road.
• April 22, 1863 : Shōgun Iemochi travelled in a great procession to the capital. He had been summoned by the emperor, and had 3,000 retainers as escort. This was the first time that a shōgun had visited Heian-kyō since the visit of Iemitsu in Kan'ei 11 – 230 years before.
• April 28, 1863 : Emperor Komei made an Imperial progress to the Kamo Shrines. He was accompanied by the shōgun, all the principal officials and many feudal lords. This was the first Imperial progress since Emperor Go-Mizunoo visited Nijō Castle more than 230 years before; and no Emperor had visited Kamo since Emperor Go-Daigo honored both shrines in Kenmu 1.
• April 29, 1863 : In the early morning, Aizu accepts under its patronage the men of the Rōshigumi, who went on to form the Shinsengumi.
• May 2, 1863 : The Rōshigumi men who were taken under Aizu patronage go to Konkaikōmyōji Temple to make their first formal, public appearance, and pay their respects to their new patron, Matsudaira Katamori. As Katamori is unavailable, they are instead met by two of his senior retainers.
• August 15–17, 1863 : Bombardment of Kagoshima in retaliation for the Namamugi Incident.