Editing Daimyo (section)

==After the Meiji Restoration==
{{stack|[[File:KurodaNagahiro.jpg|thumb|upright|Marquess [[Kuroda Nagahiro]], a daimyo of [[Fukuoka Domain]].]]}}
{{stack|[[File:Toshisada Maeda.jpg|thumb|upright|Viscount [[Maeda Toshisada]], the eldest son of Maeda Toshiaki, the last daimyo of [[Nanokaichi Domain]] in [[Kōzuke Province]].]]}}
In 1869, the year after the Meiji Restoration, the daimyo, together with the ''kuge,'' formed a new aristocracy, the ''[[kazoku]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Norman|first=Herbert E.|title=Japan's Emergence as a Modern State – 60th anniv. ed.: Political and Economic Problems of the Meiji Period|date=2011|publisher=UBC Press|isbn=978-0-7748-4187-0|pages=25–26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=McLaren|first=Walter Wallace|title=Political History of Japan During the Meiji Era, 1867–1912|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-99549-1|location=Oxon|language=en}}</ref> In 1871, the [[Abolition of the han system|han were abolished]], and prefectures were established.<ref>{{citation|title=Japan Encyclopedia|first1=Louis|last1=Frédéric|last2=Roth|first2= Käthe|isbn=978-0-674-01753-5|series=Harvard University Press Reference Library|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC|year=2002|publisher=Belknap|pages=141–142}}</ref> In this year, around 200 daimyo returned their titles to the emperor, who consolidated their han into 75 prefectures.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Nester|first=William R.|title=The Foundation of Japanese Power: Continuities, Changes, Challenges: Continuities, Changes, Challenges|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-315-48931-5|location=Oxon|language=en}}</ref> Their military forces were also demobilized, with the daimyo and their samurai followers pensioned into retirement.<ref name=":0" /> The move to abolish the feudal domains effectively ended the daimyo era in Japan. This was effectively carried out through the financial collapse of the feudal-domain governments, hampering their capability for resistance.<ref>{{Cite book|author1-link=James Huffman (historian)|last=Huffman|first=James L.|title=Modern Japan: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Nationalism|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-8153-2525-3|location=Oxon|pages=4}}</ref>

In the wake of the changes, many daimyo remained in control of their lands, being appointed as prefectural [[Governor (Japan)|governors]]; however, they were soon relieved of this duty and called en masse to Tokyo, thereby cutting off any independent base of power from which to potentially rebel.

Despite this, members of former daimyo families remained prominent in government and society, and in some cases continue to remain prominent to the present day. For example, [[Morihiro Hosokawa]], the former Prime Minister of Japan, is a descendant of the daimyo of [[Kumamoto]].{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}