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| 1866, June 25 |
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| A tariff convention was signed by the United States, Great Britain, France, and Holland. It amounted to 5 percent duty on almost all imports and exports (in force until 1899). This meant that more cheaply manufactured goods from the West could easily undercut the price of items produced in Japan. | 1 |
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| July–Aug |
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The bakufu engaged in the second Ch sh expedition to punish it for extremist activities. Satsuma and Chsh became aligned in their opposition to Edo. Chsh ultimately defeated the bakufu's forces singlehandedly. | 2 |
| In 1866, Seiy jij (Conditions in the West) by Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835–1901), one of most important figures in the subsequent Meiji era, was published and immediately became extremely popular, selling over 250,000 copies. | 3 |
| Both Shogun Iemochi and Emperor Kmei died in 1866. They were succeeded, respectively, by Hitotsubashi Keiki (Yoshinobu) as shogun and Meiji as emperor. | 4 |
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