Meiji Restoration

The Tokugawa shogunate fell and a new imperial government pushed through Western-style modernisation.

After Commodore Perry’s squadron forced Japan to open its ports in 1854 and unequal treaties were signed with the Western powers, the Tokugawa shogunate lost its authority. A movement to "revere the emperor, expel the barbarians" arose, and the domains of Satsuma and Chōshū, abandoning expulsion after defeats by Western fleets, allied in 1866 to overthrow the shogunate.

In November 1867 the shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu returned governing authority to the emperor. When the shogunate’s supporters still tried to keep real power, the Satsuma–Chōshū faction proclaimed the restoration of imperial rule on 3 January 1868 and abolished the shogunate. The Boshin War (1868–1869) followed between former shogunate forces and the new government, whose army took over Edo Castle and crushed the last resistance at Hakodate in 1869.

In April 1868 the new government declared, in the Charter Oath, that policy would be decided by public discussion and knowledge sought throughout the world; it adopted the era name Meiji and renamed Edo Tokyo, making it the new capital. Under the slogan "civilisation and enlightenment" Western ways flowed in. The abolition of the domains (1871) centralised power, the Iwakura Mission was sent to the West, and conscription and land-tax reform served the goal of "rich country, strong army". Having built the framework of a modern state, Japan turned to expansion, forcing the Treaty of Ganghwa on Joseon in 1876, and promulgated a constitution in 1889.