Genki (era)

History of Japan
Shōsōin
Periods Paleolithic before 14,000 BC Jōmon 14,000 – 300 BC Yayoi 300 BC – 300 AD Kofun 300–538 Asuka 538–710 Nara 710–794 Heian 794–1185 Kamakura 1185–1333 Kenmu Restoration 1333–1336 Muromachi (Ashikaga) Nanboku-chō Sengoku 1336–1573 Azuchi–Momoyama Nanban trade 1573–1603 Edo (Tokugawa) Sakoku Convention of Kanagawa Bakumatsu 1603–1868 Meiji Boshin War Restoration First Sino-Japanese War Boxer Rebellion Russo-Japanese War 1868–1912 Taishō World War I 1912–1926 Shōwa Financial crisis Militarism World War II Occupation Economic miracle Post-occupation Bubble Economy 1926–1989 Heisei Lost Decade 1989–present
Topics Currency Earthquakes Economy Education Empire Historiography Military Naval Post-war
Glossary Timeline

Genki (元亀) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, "year name") after Eiroku and before Tenshō. This period spanned the years from April 1570 through July 1573.^[1] The reigning emperor was Ōgimachi-tennō (正親町天皇).^[2]

Change of era

• Genki gannen (元亀元年); 1570: The era name was changed because of various wars. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Eiroku 13, on the 23rd day of the 4th month.

Events of the Genki era

• 1570 (Genki 1, 6th month): The combined forces of the Azai clan, led by Azai Nagamasa, and the Asakura clan, led by Asakura Yoshikage, met the forces of Oda Nobunaga in a shallow riverbed which has come to be known as the Battle of Anegawa. Tokugawa Ieyasu led forces which came to the aid of Oda's army; and Oda claimed the victory.^[3]
• 1571 (Genki 2, 9th month): Nobunaga marched into Ōmi Province at the head of his army which surrounded Mt. Hiei. He massacred the priests and everyone else associated with the mountain temples; and then he gave orders that every structure on the mountain should be burned.^[4]
• 1572 (Genki 3, 12th month): Takeda Shingen, the daimyō of Kai Province, led his army into Tōtōmi Province where he engaged the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Mikatagahara.^[5]
• 1573 (Genki 4, 2nd month): Yoshinaka began to fortify Nijō Castle; and he sent messages to Azai Nagamasa, Asakura Yoshikage, and Takeda Shingen, announcing his intention to engage Nobunaga.^[6]

Notes

References

• Hall, John Whitney, Keiji Nagahara, Kozo Yamamura and Kōzō Yamamura (1981). Japan Before Tokugawa: Political Consolidation and Economic Growth, 1500–1650. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-05308-0
• 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 Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
• Totman, Conrad. (2000). A History of Japan. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-21447-X

External links

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