Year in Japan
1540 in Japanese History
6 recorded entries for this year. It falls in the Muromachi period (室町時代, 1336 – 1573).
Era name: Tenbun 天文 (year 9 of the era)
What happened 出来事
- Toyotomi Hidenaga 豊臣秀長 · Samurai — Japanese warlord (1540–1591), half-brother of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
- Shima Sakon 島清興 · Samurai — samurai (1540-1600)
- Honjō Shigenaga 本庄繁長 · Samurai — samurai
- Amago Yoshihisa 尼子義久 · Samurai — daimyo
- Akechi Mitsutada 明智光忠 · Samurai — Japanese samurai (1540–1582)
- Torii Suneemon 鳥居強右衛門 · Samurai — Famous for his bravery and incredible exploit at the battle of Nagashino.
Reading the year 1540 in Japanese
Japanese sources from this period date events by era name, not by the Western calendar. 1540 corresponds to Tenbun 天文 (year 9 of the era). Years are written with 年 (ねん, nen) — so 1600 appears as 慶長5年, "the fifth year of Keichō".
The year itself is read 1540年 (1540ねん) in modern Japanese. Browse the full timeline to see where this year sits in the wider arc, or the 16th century for its neighbours.