Meiji Restoration Timeline

The crisis of 1858 had changed Yoshida Shōin's perspective, where before he had been open to conciliation between the Court and bakufu, he now believed the shishi should take direct action. He was executed in 1859 for planning the assassination of Manabe Akikatsu.

Image source: Yoshida Shōin

The culmination of unrest among lower-samurai in response to the heavy-handed exercise of authority by the bakufu occurred when Ii Naosuke was assassinated in 1860, shocking the nation and emboldening anti-bakufu forces.

Image source: Sakuradamon Incident (1860)

Formalising his leadership over a group of local shishi in October 1861, the loyalist party (among whom was counted Sakamoto Ryōma, although he left in 1862) did not view their loyalty to the Emperor as contradictory to their traditional feudal loyalties.

Image source: Takechi Hanpeita

In Satsuma Domain, a loyalist group under Ōkubo Toshimichi moved towards conciliation with the domain officials, concerning themselves with persuading the daimyō to break with the bakufu cause; Saigō Takamori would join this group upon return from his exile in 1862.

Image source: Saigō Takamori

Just prior to this time, Sakamoto Ryōma met Katsu Kaishū intending to assassinate him for his perceived pro-foreign beliefs; what occurred instead was a conversation wherein Ryōma became convinced by Kaishū's plan for rearmament, following Kaishū when he later established the Kobe Naval Training Centre in 1863.

Image source: Sakamoto Ryōma

Subsequent British threats for satisfaction drew Shimazu's attention away from Court politics, and thus in March 1863, the Imperial Court issued the order to expel barbarians, escalating tensions with foreign powers.

Image source: Sonnō jōi

With news of uprisings in Yamato and Tajima, in May 1864 pro-sonnō jōi loyalists declared the Mito Rebellion in defiance of the bakufu, part of widespread unrest among lower-ranking samurai.

Image source: Mito Rebellion

Then, in early 1865 Takasugi launched an attack on the domain government, seizing control of Chōshū and preparing it militarily for confrontation with the bakufu.

Image source: Takasugi Shinsaku

When hostilities became inevitable by the summer of 1866, Chōshū moved quickly to repulse or forestall any bakufu operations, exposing the military weakness of the Tokugawa regime.

Image source: Second Chōshū expedition

On 7 March 1866, Sakamoto successfully brought together Kido Takayoshi and Saigō Takamori to formalise an alliance between Satsuma and Chōshū, creating the coalition that would drive the Restoration.

Image source: Satchō Alliance

These serious efforts at reform sparked worries among some in the anti-Tokugawa alliance, and in 1867, Saigō and Ōkubo Toshimichi both wrote to Shimazu to indicate their support for returning the country's administration to the power of the Emperor.

Image source: Ōkubo Toshimichi

Emperor Kōmei died in February 1867, leaving the teenager Mutsuhito to ascend to the throne as Emperor Meiji, under whose reign imperial rule would be restored and Japan westernised.

Image source: Emperor Meiji

Seeking to maintain his title and influence, on 8 November 1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th Tokugawa shōgun, decided to renounce the administrative functions of his office and returned the power to the Imperial Court.

Image source: Tokugawa Yoshinobu

On 3 January 1868, Emperor Meiji declared political power to be restored to the Imperial House. In the early hours of that day, domain troops seized control of the Imperial Palace from the bakufu while Iwakura simultaneously received official approval from the Emperor for these actions.

Image source: Meiji Restoration

Forces loyal to the Emperor ended the last attempt at resistance in May 1869 with the Battle of Hakodate, defeating the remnants of Tokugawa loyalists led by Enomoto Takeaki.

Image source: Battle of Hakodate

Seeking to end further hostilities and unify the country, Tokugawa Yoshinobu was pardoned on 1 November 1869, after which many of the Tokugawa loyalists (including Enomoto and Nagai Naoyuki) were also pardoned.

Drawn up by figures largely from the southwestern domains, the Charter Oath of 1868 was intended as a document to reassure non-Restorationist domains that they would be consulted about decisions concerning objectives of the government. The Oath was issued on 6 April 1868.

Image source: Charter Oath

The capital of Edo was renamed Tōkyō on 3 September 1868, symbolising the new era under imperial rule. The Emperor took up residence in the city in 1869.

Image source: Tokyo

The document submitted to the Imperial Court on 5 March 1869 put the lands of Satsuma, Chōshū, Tosa, and Hizen at the disposal of the Emperor, beginning the process of abolishing the feudal domains.

Iwakura drafted a compromise proposal in July 1869, in it the daimyō were to retain their land under the title of governor or vice-governor, an interim step toward full abolition of the domains.

Image source: Iwakura Tomomi

Over the course of 1870 and 1871, reformers conducted missions to various daimyō of the former anti-bakufu alliance, and reached a collective decision that it was necessary to abolish the domains.

From 1870, several samurai among the western domains (chiefly Chōshū, Satsuma, and Kagoshima) began to voice their discontent with traditional organisational structures being folded into the new modernising administration; political violence erupted and several modernisers were assassinated—including Ōmura Masujirō.

Image source: Ōmura Masujirō

With the Dampatsurei Edict of 1871 issued by Emperor Meiji during the early Meiji Era, men of the samurai classes were forced to cut their hair short, effectively abandoning the chonmage hairstyle, as part of edicts intended to modernise the appearance of upper class Japanese men.

Image source: Chonmage

Through the promotion of Ōkuma Shigenobu and Itō Hirobumi to ensure the support of their respective domains, the daimyō in Tōkyō were summoned in August 1871, whereupon they were informed of the decision taken to abolish the domains without consultation.

These new aristocrats were ordered to move to Tōkyō, separated from their former domains, in January 1872, the 302 domains were formally reorganised into 72 prefectures, completing the centralisation of the Japanese state.

To reform the military, the government instituted nationwide conscription in 1873, mandating that every male would serve for four years in the armed forces upon turning 21 years old, followed by three more years in the reserves, ending the samurai monopoly on military service.

Image source: Conscription in Taiwan

Later, in 1874, the samurai were given the option to convert their stipends into government bonds, beginning the dismantling of the hereditary privileges of the warrior class.

The Japanese government reversed its ban on cremation and pro-cremation Japanese adopted western European arguments on how cremation was good for limiting disease spread, so the Japanese government lifted their attempted ban in May 1875 and promoted cremation for diseased people in 1897.

Image source: Cremation in Japan

Finally, in 1876, this commutation was made compulsory, formally ending the economic basis of the samurai class and accelerating the displacement of the old feudal order.

The Meiji Constitution of 1889 would remain in place until the Allied occupation of Japan after the end of World War II, providing the legal framework of the modern Japanese state created by the Restoration.

Image source: Meiji Constitution

The Meiji Restoration accelerated the industrialisation process in Japan, which led to its rise as a military power by the year 1895, under the slogan of "Enrich the country, strengthen the military" (fukoku kyōhei).