Meiji restoration

Call of war which was echoing throughout Japan is Sonno Joi which means the return of the Emperor and pursuing the uncivilized. The conquest of emperor means the raising value of Japanese traditional value. The Daimyo which had the strongest territory in Japan were the ones initiate the Shogun’s authority.

Fight against Shogun Tokugawa by Meiji was not without a cause. Some factors behind the war were :

• the Daimyo which wanted reshuffle in Japanese Government
• the traders, who intentionally finance the rebellion against Shogun as their business expansion
• the samurai who wanted to use their swords for heroic terms
• the farmers who wanted to get a bigger share of their hard-work

When Meiji won the battle, a year after authorizing, Meiji abolished Daimyo’s rights of drawing tax from each of their territory. The Daimyos then given quota a half-of-it in the previous time of shogun. Daimyo were also released from the obligation to live the samurai. The samurais were then given earnings according to their level.

During five years, Meiji eliminated the caste system in Japan. Even suits, names, symbols and any other identical was equalized. Everybody was given the same rights. Here, the Japanese still consider emperor is the top hierarchy and they agree to dismiss shogun.