was a after Meireki and before Kanbun. This period spanned the years from July 1658 through April 1661. The reigning emperor was . Change of era 1658 : The era name was changed to mark a disastrous, great fire in Edo. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Meireki 4, on the 23rd day of the 7th month 23rd. The source of this era name comes from the Records of the Grand Historian: "When the common people know their place, then all under heaven is ruled" (衆民乃定、万国為治) Events of the Manji era 1658 (Manji 1): In the aftermath of the Great Mereiki Fire, the shogunate organized four all-samurai, all-Edo firefighting squads. 1658 (Manji 1): Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu is born. Yoshiyasu will become Shōgun Tsunayoshi's favorite courtier and chief counselor. 1659 (Manji 2): In Edo, construction begins on the Ryōgoku Bridge (ryogokubashi). 1660 (Manji 3): Former rōjū Sakai Tadakatsu entered the Buddhist priesthood. Gallery Notes See also List of Emperors of Japan Emperor of Japan References Bodart-Bailey, Beatrice. (2006). The Dog Shogun: The Personality and Policies of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ; ; OCLC 470123491 McClain, James L., John M. Merriman and Kaoru Ugawa. (1994). Edo and Paris: Urban Life and the State in the Early Modern Era. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 48943301 Screech, Timon. (2006). Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ; OCLC 65177072 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 External links National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection Japanese eras 1650s in Japan 1660s in Japan