Part of a series on the
History of Japan
Shōsōin
Periods Paleolithic before 14,000 BC Jōmon 14,000–1000 BC Yayoi 1000 BC – 300 AD Kofun 300–538 AD Asuka 538–710 Nara 710–794 Heian Former Nine Years' War Later Three-Year War Genpei War 794–1185 Kamakura Jōkyū War Mongol invasions Genkō War Kenmu Restoration 1185–1333 Muromachi Nanboku-chō period Sengoku period 1336–1573 Azuchi–Momoyama Nanban trade Imjin War Battle of Sekigahara 1573–1603 Edo (Tokugawa) Tokugawa shogunate Invasion of Ryukyu Siege of Osaka Sakoku Perry Expedition Convention of Kanagawa Bakumatsu Meiji Restoration Boshin War 1603–1868 Meiji Ryūkyū Disposition Invasion of Taiwan (1874) Satsuma Rebellion First Sino-Japanese War Treaty of Shimonoseki Triple Intervention Invasion of Taiwan (1895) Colonization of Taiwan Boxer Rebellion Russo-Japanese War Treaty of Portsmouth Japan–Korea Treaty Colonization of Korea 1868–1912 Taishō World War I Intervention in Siberia Great Kantō earthquake 1912–1926 Shōwa Militarism Financial crisis Nanking incident Mukden Incident Invasion of Manchuria May 15 incident February 26 incident Anti-Comintern Pact Tripartite Pact Second Sino-Japanese War World War II Attack on Pearl Harbor Pacific War Atomic bombings Soviet–Japanese War Surrender of Japan Occupation of Japan Postwar Japan Anpo protests Economic miracle Asset price bubble 1926–1989 Heisei Lost Decades Great Hanshin earthquake Cool Japan Tōhoku earthquake Imperial transition 1989–2019 Reiwa COVID-19 pandemic Abe assassination Noto earthquake 2019–present
Topics Capital punishment Currency Earthquakes Economy Era names Education Empire Foreign relations Geography Historiography Religion Buddhism Christianity Islam Judaism Shinto Military Naval Politics Post-war Science and technology Sports World Heritage Sites
Glossary History Timeline
v t e

Tenmei (天明) is a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, literally "years name") for the years between the An'ei Era and before the Kansei Era, from April 1781 through January 1789.^[1] The reigning emperor was Kōkaku Tennō' (光格天皇).^[2]

• 1781 Tenmei gannen (天明元年): The new era name of Tenmei (meaning "dawn") was created to mark the enthronement of Emperor Kōkaku. The previous era ended and the new one commenced on the second day of the fourth month in what had been An'ei 11.

As is customary for choosing nengō, the name was selected from a passage in a historical Chinese text. In this case, the text was Classic of History (書経) (also quoted in The Great Learning (大學)), more specifically from the first of the King Tai Jia (大甲) chapters. It says: "先王顧諟天之明命..." meaning "The former king kept his eye continually on the bright requirements of Heaven, [and...]." This is continued with a description of reverence, virtue, and prosperity for the lands. From this, the two characters 天 and 明 were selected.

• 1782 (Tenmei 2): The Tenmei famine is said to have begun.
• 1782 (Tenmei 2): An analysis of silver currency in China and Japan was presented to the Emperor by Minamoto no Masatsuna.^[3]
• 1783 (Tenmei 3): Mount Asama (浅間山,, Asama-yama) erupted in Shinano province, only 80 miles northwest of Edo, with a loss of life estimated at more than 20,000 (Tenmei eruption). [Today, Asama-yama's location is better described as on the border between Gunma Prefecture and Nagano Prefecture]. Japanologist Isaac Titsingh's published account of the Asama-yama eruption became the first of its kind in the West (1820).^[4] The volcano's devastation makes the Great Tenmei Famine even worse. Much of the agriculture of Shinano Province and Kōzuke Province remained unproductive or under-producing for the next four or five years.^[5]
• 1783 (Tenmei 3): Famine was exacerbated, according to 20th-century studies, because after eight years of near- or actual famine, neither the authorities nor the people had any reserves left to meet further drought and crop failures during the Great Tenmei Famine.^[6]
• 1784 (Tenmei 4): Country-wide celebrations took place in honor of Kōbō-Daishi, founder of Shingon Buddhism, who had died 950 years earlier.^[3]
• 1784 (Tenmei 4): The son of the Shōgun's rōjū (chief counselor) was assassinated inside Edo Castle. The comparatively young wakadoshiyori (junior counselor) Tanuma Okitomo [ja] was the son of the senior councilor Tanuma Okitsugu. The younger Tanuma was killed in front of his father as both were returning to their norimono (carriage) after a meeting of the Counselors of State had broken up. The involvement of senior figures in the Bakufu was suspected, but no one other than the lone assassin himself was punished. The result was that the liberalizing reforms that the older Tanuma had initiated were blocked.^[7]
• September 17, 1786 (Tenmei 6, 25th day of the eighth month): Shōgun Tokugawa Ieharu died and was buried in Edo.
• 1787 (Tenmei 7): Tokugawa Ienari became the 11th Shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate.^[8]
• 1787 (Tenmei 7): Kutsuki Masatsuna published Seiyō Senpu (Notes on Western Coinage), with plates showing European and colonial currency.^[9]
• 1788 (Tenmei 7): Riots broke out in rice shops in Edo and Osaka.
• 1788 (Tenmei 8): Great Fire of Kyoto. A fire began in the city at three o'clock in the morning of March 6 (Tenmei 8, 29th day of the first month), and continued to burn uncontrolled until March 8 (first day of the second month). Embers smoldered until they were extinguished by heavy rain on March 11 (fourth day of the second month). The Emperor and his court fled the fire, and the Imperial Palace was destroyed. No other rebuilding was permitted until a new palace was completed. This fire was considered to be a major event. The opperhoofd of the VOC 'in Dejima noted in his official record book that "people are considering it to be a great and extraordinary heavenly portent".^[10]

• Hall, John Whitney. (1988). Early Modern Japan (The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 4). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521223553; OCLC 489633115
• __________. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719–1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. OCLC 445621
• Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301
• Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 978-0-203-09985-8; OCLC 65177072
• __________. (2000). Shogun's Painted Culture: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States, 1760–1829. London : Reaktion. ISBN 9781861890641; OCLC 42699671
• Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691.

• National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection
• National Archives of Japan: Hinozenshu sanbutsu zuko, scroll showing illustrated inventory of industries in Karatsu Domain, Tenmei 4 (1784)
• Toyohara Chikanobu, Mirror of the Ages (Jidai Kagami): Tenmei no koro.