Editing Meiji era (section)

== Meiji Restoration ==
{{main|Meiji Restoration}} 
{{see also|Abolition of the han system}}
On February 3, 1867, the 14-year-old [[Emperor Meiji|Prince Mutsuhito]] succeeded his father, [[Emperor Kōmei]], to the [[Chrysanthemum Throne]] as the 122nd emperor.

This coincided with pressure on the ruling [[shogunate]] to modernize Japan, combining modern advances with traditional values. Mutsuhito was sympathetic to these ideas, leading to a call for the restoration of the governing power to the emperor.
On November 9, 1867, then-''[[shōgun]]'' [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] tendered his resignation to the Emperor, and "put his prerogatives at the Emperor’s disposal", formally stepping down ten days later.<ref>Takano, p. 256.</ref> [[Meiji Restoration|Imperial restoration]] occurred the next year on January 3, 1868, with the formation of [[Meiji government|the new government]]. The [[fall of Edo]] in the summer of 1868 marked the end of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]], and a new era, ''Meiji'', was proclaimed.

The first reform was the promulgation of the [[Five Charter Oath]] in 1868, a general statement of the aims of the [[Meiji oligarchy|Meiji leaders]] to boost morale and win financial support for the [[Government of Meiji Japan|new government]]. Its five provisions consisted of:
# Deliberative assembly shall be widely established and all matters decided by public discussion
# All classes, high and low, shall unite in vigorously carrying out the administration of the affairs of state
# The common people, no less than the civil and military of officials, shall each be allowed to pursue his own calling so that there may be no discontent. 
# Evil customs of the past shall be broken off and everything based upon the just laws of nature.
# Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundations of imperial rule.

Implicit in the Charter Oath was an end to exclusive political rule by the [[shōgun|bakufu]] (a ''shōgun''{{'}}s direct administration including officers), and a move toward more democratic participation in government. To implement the Charter Oath, a rather short-lived constitution with eleven articles was drawn up in June 1868. Besides providing for a new [[Daijō-kan|Council of State]], legislative bodies, and systems of ranks for nobles and officials, it limited office tenure to four years, allowed public balloting, provided for a new taxation system, and ordered new local administrative rules.

[[File:MeijiJoukyou.jpg|thumb|left|The fifteen-year-old [[Meiji Emperor]], moving from [[Kyoto]] to Tokyo at the end of 1868, after the [[fall of Edo]]]]

The Meiji government assured the foreign powers that it would follow the old treaties negotiated by the bakufu and announced that it would act in accordance with international law. Mutsuhito, who was to reign until 1912, selected a new reign name—''Meiji'', or "Enlightened Rule"—to mark the beginning of a new era in Japanese history. To further dramatize the new order, the capital was relocated from [[Kyoto]], where it had been situated since 794, to [[Tokyo]] (Eastern Capital), the new name for [[Edo (Tokyo)|Edo]]. In a move critical for the consolidation of the new regime, most ''[[daimyō]]s'' voluntarily surrendered their land and census records to the Emperor in the [[Abolition of the han system|abolition of the Han system]], symbolizing that the land and people were under the Emperor's jurisdiction.

Confirmed in their hereditary positions, the daimyo became governors, and the central government assumed their administrative expenses and paid [[samurai]] stipends. The han were replaced with [[Prefectures of Japan|prefectures]] in 1871, and authority continued to flow to the national government. Officials from the favored former han, such as [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]], [[Chōshū Domain|Chōshū]], [[Tosa Domain|Tosa]], and [[Hizen]] staffed the new ministries. Formerly [[Kuge|old court nobles]], and lower-ranking samurai, replaced bakufu appointees and daimyo as a new ruling class appeared.

[[File:Meiji tenno1.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Emperor Meiji]] {{circa|1888}}]]
Inasmuch as the Meiji Restoration had sought to return the Emperor to a preeminent position, efforts were made to establish a [[Shinto]]-oriented state much like it was 1,000 years earlier. Since Shinto and Buddhism [[Shinbutsu-shūgō|had molded into a syncretic belief]] in the prior thousand years and Buddhism had been closely connected with the shogunate, this involved the separation of Shinto and Buddhism ([[shinbutsu bunri]]) and the associated destruction of various Buddhist temples and related violence ([[haibutsu kishaku]]). Furthermore, a new [[State Shinto]] had to be constructed for the purpose. In 1871, the [[Office of Shinto Worship]] ([[:ja:神祇省]]) was established, ranking even above the Council of State in importance. The ''[[kokutai]]'' ideas of the Mito school were embraced, and the divine ancestry of the [[Imperial Household of Japan|Imperial House]] was emphasized. The government supported Shinto teachers, a small but important move. Although the Office of Shinto Worship was demoted in 1872, by 1877 the [[Home Ministry (Japan)|Home Ministry]] controlled all Shinto shrines and certain Shinto sects were given state recognition. Shinto was released from Buddhist administration and its properties restored. Although Buddhism suffered from state sponsorship of Shinto, it had its own resurgence. Christianity also was legalized, and Confucianism remained an important ethical doctrine. Increasingly, however, Japanese thinkers identified with Western ideology and methods.