Emperor Meiji Timeline

Emperor Kōmei fell seriously ill at the age of 36 and died on 30 January 1867 from hemorrhagic smallpox. In a brief ceremony in Kyoto, the crown prince formally ascended to the throne on 13 February 1867.

Image source: Emperor Kōmei

The political struggle reached its climax in late 1867. After an agreement fell apart, Yoshinobu officially tendered his resignation to the emperor on 9 November 1867 and formally stepped down ten days later.

Image source: Meiji Restoration

In the Boshin War, Yoshinobu's followers briefly resisted, and bakufu holdouts were finally defeated in late 1869. Samurai mostly from the Chōshū and Satsuma Domains defeated the shogunate and restored power in the emperor's name.

Image source: Boshin War

On 4 January 1868, imperial rule was formally restored, ending 265 years of rule by the Tokugawa shogunate and proclaiming the Empire of Japan, which began the Meiji era.

On 7 April 1868, the emperor was presented with the Charter Oath, a five-point statement of the nature of the new government outlining goals such as seeking knowledge throughout the world.

Image source: Charter Oath

On 19 September 1868, Mutsuhito changed the name of the city of Edo to Tokyo, meaning "eastern capital". A final decision to move the capital to Tokyo was not made until 1889.

Image source: Tokyo

On 23 October 1868 the era was changed from Keiō to Meiji ('enlightened rule'), which was later used for the emperor's posthumous name.

Image source: Japanese era name

In 1869, several of the daimyōs who had supported the revolution gave their land property to the emperor and were reappointed as governors, with considerable salaries.

Image source: Chōshū Domain

The emperor married Ichijo Haruko on 11 January 1869. Known posthumously as Empress Dowager Shōken, she was the first Imperial Consort in several centuries to receive the title of kōgō (Empress Consort).

Image source: Empress Shōken

In 1871, as Japan was organized into 72 prefectures, the emperor abolished domains entirely. From this year onward, his studies also began to include materials on contemporary affairs.

Edo Castle was destroyed in a conflagration in 1873, and the emperor moved to the Akasaka Palace.

Image source: Imperial Palace, Tokyo

The Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, led by disgruntled former samurai, was a major uprising against the new imperial government and marked the end of the period of rebellion and assassination that had begun in the late 1860s.

Image source: Satsuma Rebellion

Ōkubo Toshimichi, one of the leading statesmen of the Meiji Restoration, was assassinated in 1878 amid the turbulence of the era.

Image source: Ōkubo Toshimichi

Prince Yoshihito, the future Emperor Taishō and the emperor's only surviving son, was born on 31 August 1879. Only five of Meiji's fifteen children lived to adulthood.

Image source: Emperor Taishō

The Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors of 1882 was issued to the armed forces, emphasizing loyalty to the emperor, and was one of the key documents of the reign alongside the Charter Oath and the Meiji Constitution.

Image source: Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors

In 1885, a prime minister leading a cabinet in a western fashion was established, replacing the previous governmental structure. Itō Hirobumi became the first Prime Minister of Japan.

Image source: Prime Minister of Japan

The Privy Council was established in 1888 to advise the emperor, part of the institutional modernization guided by the oligarchs known as the genrō.

Image source: Privy Council of Japan

The Meiji Constitution of 1889 created a new parliament, although it had no real power. That year also saw the final decision made to move the capital to Tokyo.

Image source: Meiji Constitution

The Imperial Diet was established in 1890, the same year the emperor issued the Imperial Rescript on Education, another key document advising moral instruction in schools.

Image source: National Diet

On 5 November 1872, the emperor received Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia at court.

Image source: Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia

In 1881, the emperor received King Kalākaua of Hawaii, the first state visit of a foreign monarch to Japan.

Image source: Kalākaua

The Sino-Japanese War of 1894 ended in Japanese victory, establishing Japan as a regional power. Taiwan was annexed in 1895 as a result of the war.

Image source: First Sino-Japanese War

Japan's victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 earned Japan the status of a great power.

Image source: Russo-Japanese War

Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910, beginning the period of Korea under Japanese rule that lasted until 1945.

Image source: Korea under Japanese rule

The Illustrated London News published an article with a cover illustration of Emperor Meiji in the New-York Tribune on 19 March 1905, bringing his image to Western audiences.

Near the end of his life, several leftists including Shūsui Kōtoku were executed in 1911 on charges of having conspired to murder the sovereign, in what became known as the High Treason Incident of 1910.

By 1912, Japan had gone through a political, economic, and social revolution and emerged as one of the great powers in the world. The New York Times noted the striking contrast at the emperor's funeral between that which preceded it and that which followed.

Emperor Meiji, suffering from diabetes, nephritis, and gastroenteritis, died of uremia at 10:40 pm on 29 July 1912, aged 59.

Although Meiji was the last emperor to have concubines, the function was not officially abolished until 1924.

A poem of Emperor Meiji's was later recited by his grandson, Emperor Shōwa, in an Imperial Conference in September 1941 before the attack on Pearl Harbor, to signal that he wanted to avoid the war.

Image source: Hirohito