Title: How the Meiji Restoration Ended Shogunal Rule in Japan
Headings: What Was the Meiji Restoration?
What Was the Meiji Restoration?
Background to the Meiji Restoration
The Satsuma/Choshu Alliance
The Boshin War
Radical Changes of the Meiji Era
Blending Ancient and Modern to Build Anew
Resources and Further Reading

Content: How the Meiji Restoration Ended Shogunal Rule in Japan
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What Was the Meiji Restoration? Hulton Archive / Getty Images
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By
Kallie Szczepanski
History Expert
Ph.D., History, Boston University
J.D., University of Washington School of Law
B.A., History, Western Washington University
Dr. Kallie Szczepanski is a history teacher specializing in Asian history and culture. She has taught at the high school and university levels in the U.S. and South Korea. our editorial process
Kallie Szczepanski
Updated July 07, 2019
The Meiji Restoration was a political and social revolution in Japan from 1866 to 1869 that ended the power of the Tokugawa shogun and returned the Emperor to a central position in Japanese politics and culture. It is named for Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor, who served as the figurehead for the movement. Background to the Meiji Restoration
When Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. steamed into Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay) in 1853 and demanded that Tokugawa Japan allow foreign powers access to trade, he unwittingly started a chain of events that led to Japan's rise as a modern imperial power. Japan's political elites realized that the U.S. and other countries were ahead in terms of military technology, and (quite rightly) felt threatened by western imperialism. After all, mighty Qing China had been brought to its knees by Britain fourteen years earlier in the First Opium War, and would soon lose the Second Opium War as well. Rather than suffer a similar fate, some of Japan's elites sought to close the doors even tighter against foreign influence, but the more foresighted began to plan a modernization drive. They felt that it was important to have a strong Emperor at the center of Japan's political organization to project Japanese power and fend off Western imperialism.