Tokugawa Ieharu was the tenth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office from 1760 to 1786. His childhood name was Takechiyo. Ieharu died in 1786 and given the Buddhist name Shunmyoin and buried at Kan'ei-ji.
Tenmei gannen or Tenmei 1 : The new era name of Tenmei was created to mark the enthronement of Emperor Kōkaku. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in An'ei 11, on the 2nd day of the 4th month. According to Nihon Ōdai Ichiran, Ieharu was appointed Udaijin of the Emperor's Kugyō, which was quite rare and considered a great favour.
Tenmei 2 : Great Tenmei Famine begins.
Tenmei 2 : An analysis of silver currency in China and Japan "Sin sen sen pou " was presented to the emperor by Kutsuki Masatsuna, also known as Kutsuki Oki-no kami Minamoto-no Masatsuna, hereditary daimyō of Oki and Ōmi with holdings in Tanba and Fukuchiyama -- related note at Tenmei 7 below.
Tenmei 3 : Mount Asama erupted in Shinano, one of the old provinces of Japan. Japanologist Isaac Titsingh's published account of the Asama-yama eruption was the first of its kind in the West. The volcano's devastation makes the Great Tenmei Famine even worse.
Tenmei 4 : Country-wide celebrations in honor of Kūkai who died 950 years earlier.
Tenmei 4 : The son of the shōguns chief counselor was assassinated inside Edo Castle. The comparatively young wakadoshiyori, Tanuma Yamashiro-no-kami Okitomo, was the son of the seniorwakadoshiyori Tanuma Tonomo-no-kami Okitsugu. The younger Tanuma was killed in front of his father as both were returning to their norimono after a meeting of the Counselors of State had broken up. The involvement of senior figures in the bakufu was suspected; however, none but the lone assassin himself, Sano Masakoto, was punished. The result was that Tanuma-initiated, liberalizing reforms within the bakufu and relaxation the strictures of sakoku were blocked.
Tenmei 6, on the 8th day of the 9th month : Death of Tokugawa Ieharu. He is buried in Edo.
Tenmei 7 : Kutsuki Masatsuna published Seiyō senpu, with plates showing European and colonial currency – related note at Tenmei 2 above.
Eras of Ieharu's ''bakufu''
The years in which Ieharu was shōgun are more specifically identified by more than one era name or nengō.
