Hōtoku

Hōtoku (宝徳) was a Japanese era name (年号,, nengō,, lit. "year name") after Bun'an and before Kyotoku. This period spanned the years from July 1449 through July 1452.[1] The reigning emperor was Go-Hanazono-tennō (後花園天皇).[2]

Change of era

• 1449 Hōtoku gannen (宝徳元年): The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of events. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in 1449 (Bun'an 6.)

The first year of Hotoku began on the 28th day of the 7th month. On the 10th day, the era name would still have been Bun'an 6.[3]

Events of the Hōtoku era

• May 8, 1449 (Hōtoku 1, 16th day of the 4th month): Shōgun Yoshinari[4] is honored by the emperor with the gift of a sword.[5]
• 1451 (Hōtoku 3, 7th month ): A delegation from the Ryukyu Islands arrives for the first time in Heian-kyō (Kyoto).[6] Mention of this diplomatic event is among the first of its type to be published in the West in an 1832 French version of Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu (三国通覧図説, An Illustrated Description of Three Countries) by Hayashi Shihei.[7]
• 1451 (Hōtoku 3, 8th month ): Sogun Yoshihori causes a letter to be sent to the Emperor of China.[6]

Appreciation for the waka poetry of Shōtetsu and Shinkei was noteworthy during this era.[8]

Notes

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Hōtoku" in Japan encyclopedia, p. 360; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File.
2. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 331-347., p. 331, at Google Books
3. Tonomura, Hitomi. (1992). Community and commerce in late medieval Japan: the corporate villages of Tokuchin-ho, p. 221., p. 2212, at Google Books
4. In 1453 (Kyōtoku 2, 6th month), Shogun, Yoshinari changed his name to Yoshimasu, by which name he is better known in modern times -- Titsingh, p. 346., p. 346, at Google Books
5. Titsingh, p. 345., p. 345, at Google Books
6. Titsingh, p. 346., p. 346, at Google Books; Satow, Ernest. (1882) "Notes on Loochoo" in Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vols. 1-2, p. 1., p. 1, at Google Books, citing Arai Hakuseki
7. Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu; alternate romaji Sankoku Tsūran Zusetsu; Klaproth, Julius. (1832). San kokf tsou ran to sets, ou Aperçu général des trois royaumes, pp. 176., p. 176, at Google Books
8. Ramirez-Christensen, Esperanza U. (1994). Heart's Flower: the Life and Poetry of Shinkei, p. 40., p. 40., at Google Books

References

• Hayashi, Shihei. (1786). Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu (三国通覧図説, An Illustrated Description of Three Countries). Edo: Manuscript. OCLC 44014900
• Klaproth, Julius. (1832). San kokf tsou ran to sets, ou Aperçu général des trois royaumes. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 2563166; OCLC 561284561
• Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691.

External links

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection

Preceded by Bun'an	Era or nengō Hōtoku 1449–1452	Succeeded by Kyōtoku