Jilly Traganou

“In order for Japan to become an equal member of the international community, the western perception of time had to be accepted. The western calendar was
adopted with much complaint in 1872, with the decision that the third day of the succeeding twelfth month would become the first day of 1873. The decree added:
On this day a ceremony…will be held, and the Emperor will inform the sun goddess and the imperial ancestors of the change…. The day will be divided into 24 hours instead of twelve two-hour periods, as hitherto.”
― Jilly Traganou, The Tokaido Road: Travelling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan