Change of era
* 1736 : To mark the enthronement of Sakuramachi, the era was changed to ''Genbun'' (meaning "Original civility"). The previous era ended and the new one commenced in ''Kyōhō'' 21, on the 21st day of the 4th month.Events of the ''Genbun'' era
* 1736 (''Genbun 1''): The shogunate published an edict declaring that henceforth, the sole, authorized coinage in the empire would be those copper coins which were marked on the obverse with the character 文 (pronounced ''bun'' in Japanese or pronounced ''wen'' in Chinese—which is to say, the same character which is found in this era name of ''Genbun''). * 1737 (''Genbun 2, 11th month''): A comet is noticed in the western part of the sky. * 1738 (''Genbun 3''): Esoteric Shinto rituals were performed by the emperor. * 1739 (''Genbun 4''): Some foundrymen in Edo are commanded to create iron coins for use across the empire. * 1739 (''Genbun 4''): Hosokawa Etchū-no-kami of Higo was killed in Edo castle by Itakura Katsukane, and the killer was ordered to commit suicide as just punishment; however, Shōgun Yoshimune personally intervened to mitigate the adverse consequences for the killer's ''fudai'' family.Screech, Timon. (2006). ''Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779-1822'', pp. 117-121. * August 8, 1740 (''Genbun 5, 16th day of the 7th month''): Great floods in Heian-kyō. Sanjo Bridge is washed away.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1956). ''Kyoto: the Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869'', p. 321. * January 11, 1741 (''Genbun 5, 24th day of the 11th month''): The esoteric ''Niiname-matsuri'' ceremonies were performed. This specific ceremony had otherwise been held in abeyance for the previous 280 years.Notes
References
* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge:External links
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