Meiji Restoration

The Meiji Restoration (Japanese: Ð"Ñ"Ð"*Ð"-Ð"ЋÐ'Ñ*SÐ"Ñ'Ð"‚, Meiji-ishin), also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to a change in Japan's political and social structure. It occurred from 1866 to 1869, a period of three years that transverses both the late Edo (often called Late Tokugawa shogunate) and beginning of the Meiji Era. Probably the most important foreign account of the events of 1862-69 is contained in A Diplomat in Japan by Sir Ernest Satow. The restoration was a direct response to the opening of Japan by the arrival of the Black ships of Commodore Matthew Perry.

The formation in 1866 of the Sat-cho Alliance between Saigo Takamori, the leader of the Satsuma domain, and Kido Takayoshi, the leader of the Choshu domain, marks the beginning of the Meiji restoration. These two leaders supported the emperor and were brought together by Sakamoto Ryoma for the purpose of challenging the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate (bakufu) and restoring the emperor to power.

The Tokugawa shogunate came to an official end on November 9, 1867, when the 15th Tokugawa Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu "put his prerogatives at the emperor's disposal" and then resigned his position 10 days later. This was effectively the "restoration" (Taisei HÐ'ЁÐ'­kan) of imperial rule, although Yoshinobu retained considerable power.

Shortly thereafter in January 1868, the Boshin War (War of the Year of the Dragon) started with the Battle of Toba Fushimi in which an army led by forces from Choshu and Satsuma defeated the ex-shogun's army and forced the Emperor to strip Yoshinobu of all power. Some shogunate forces escaped to Hokkaido, where they attempted to set up the breakaway Republic of Ezo, but this came to an early end in May 1869 with the siege of Hakodate, Hokkaido. The defeat of the armies of the