was a after Kōgen and before Shōgen. This period spanned the years from March 1257 to March 1259.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Shōka" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, see Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File . The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon, pp. 248-255; Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki. p. 231-232.
Change of era 1257 : The new era name was created to mark an event or a number of events. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Kōgen 2.
Events of the Shōka era 1257 (Shōka 1): A major epidemic.Lee, Sherman E. (1983). Reflections of Reality in Japanese Art, p. 227.
Notes
References Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 58053128 Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691 Varley, H. Paul. (1980). A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa. New York: Columbia University Press. ; OCLC 6042764
External links National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection