Meiwa

Change of era

• 1764 Meiwa gannen: The era name became Meiwa because of the enthronement of Empress Go-Sakuramachi.

Events of the ''Meiwa'' Era

• 1765 : Five-momme coin issued.
• 1766 : A planned insurrection to displace the Shōgun was thwarted.
• 1768 : Five-momme usage halted.
• 1770 : A typhoon flattened the newly built Imperial Palace in Kyoto.
• 1770 : A great comet with a very long tail lit up the night skies throughout the summer and autumn.
• 1770 : Although no one could have known it at the time, this was the first of 15 consecutive years of drought in Japan.
• April 1, 1772 : "The Great Meiwa Fire"—one of the three greatest Edo fire disasters. Unofficial reports describe a swath of ashes and cinders nearly five miles wide and long—destroying 178 temples and shrines, 127 daimyō residences, 878 non-official residences, 8705 houses of bannermen, and 628 blocks of merchant dwellings, with estimates of over 6,000 casualties. All this devastation subsequently engendered the staggering costs of reconstruction.
• August 2, 1772 : A terrible tempest hit the Kantō bringing floods and ruining crops.
• August 17, 1772 : Another storm with more flooding and winds no less intense blew down an estimated 4000 houses in Edo alone.
• 1772 : At the time, it was said that "Meiwa 9 is Year of Trouble" because it was marked by an extraordinary succession of natural calamities. The pun was made linking the words "Meiwa" + "ku" and the sound-alike word "meiwaku".
• 1772 : The nengō was changed to Anei, but this symbolic act was proved futile.