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Meiji Restoration

The Meiji Restoration was a political event that took place in Japan in 1868. In it, the Tokugawa family, a warrior clan that had ruled Japan for more than 260 years, was overthrown by a group of political activists who proclaimed that their goal was to restore the imperial family to power.

After they successfully overthrew the Tokugawa shogunate, Emperor Mutsuhito (1852-1912) adopted the reign title Meiji, which means “enlightened rule.” The Meiji Restoration is almost universally regarded as the dividing line between ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ Japan. While it did bring to power a new government that introduced radical policies that fundamentally altered Japanese society, because it was not an especially violent event in itself, there was also a great deal of continuity between pre- and post-Restoration Japan.

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