Bun'ō

Period of Japanese history (1260–1261 CE)

Bun'ō (文応) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, lit. "year name") after Shōka and before Kōchō. This period spanned the years from April 1260 to February 1261.^[1] The reigning emperor was Kameyama-tennō (亀山天皇).^[2]

Change of era

• 1260 Bun'ō gannen (文応元年): The new era name was created to mark an event or a number of events. The years of the Shōgen era were part of a period marked by famine and epidemics; and the era name was changed in quick succession in the hope that this might bring them to a close.^[3] The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Shōka 3.

Events of the Bun'ō era

• 1260 (Bun'ō 1): Crop failures brought widespread starvation.^[4]
• 1260 (Bun'ō 1): Nichiren preached in the streets of Kamakura.^[5]
• July 16, 1260 (Bun'ō 1, 7th day of the 6th month): Nichiren submitted a formal remonstrance to Hojo Tokiyori; this was the "Treatise on Securing Peace in the Land through the Establishment of True Buddhism" (Rissho Ankoku Ron)^[6]
• 1260 (Bun'ō 1): Buddhism was introduced from Japan to the Ryūkyū Kingdom.^[7]
• 1260 (Bun'ō 1): The rise of pirates and increased raids from safe havens in Tsushima began to develop into a major problem.^[4]

Notes

1. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Bun'ō" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 92, p. 92, at Google Books; 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. 255-261; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki. p. 232-233.
3. "The Doctrines and Practice of Nichiren Shoshu". Archived from the original on 2008-01-16. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
4. Totman, Conrad D. (2000). A history of Japan, p. 110., p. 110, at Google Books
5. Lloyd, Arthur. (1912). The Creed of Half Japan: Historical Sketches of Japanese Buddhism, p. 287, at Google Books
6. The Life of Nichiren, Part 8, "The Matsubagayatsu Persecution"
7. Schwarz, Henry B. (1908). In Togo's Country: Some Studies in Satsuma and Other Little Known Parts of Japan, p. 130, p. 130, at Google Books

References

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
• 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
• Totman, Conrad D. (1999). A History of Japan. Boston: Blackwell. ISBN 9780631214472; ISBN 9781557860767; OCLC 59570371
• Varley, H. Paul. (1980). A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231049405; OCLC 6042764

External links

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