Meiji Restoration

Sakamoto Ryōma (坂本 龍馬, January 3, 1836 – December 10, 1867) was a Japanese prominent figure in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate during the Bakumatsu period in Japan.

Ōmura Masujirō (大村 益次郎, May 30, 1824 – December 7, 1869) was a Japanese military leader and theorist in Bakumatsu period Japan.

The Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei (奥羽越列藩同盟, Alliance of the domains of Mutsu, Dewa, and Echigo) was a Japanese military-political coalition established and disestablished over the course of several months in early to mid-1868 during the Boshin War.

The Republic of Ezo (蝦夷共和国 Ezo Kyōwakoku) was a short-lived state established in 1869 by former Tokugawa retainers in what is now known as Hokkaido, the large but sparsely populated northernmost island in modern Japan.

Yoshida Shōin (吉田松陰, September 20, 1830 – November 21, 1859), commonly named Torajirō (寅次郎), was one of Japan's most distinguished intellectuals in the closing days of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Saitō Hajime (斎藤 一, February 18, 1844 – September 28, 1915) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, who most famously served as the captain of the third unit of the Shinsengumi.

The Shizoku (士族 Shizoku, lit. "warrior families") was a social class merged with former Samurai on 25 July 1869, as part of the Meiji Restoration.

Count Hijikata Hisamoto (土方久元, 23 November 1833 – 4 November 1918) was a Japanese politician and cabinet minister of the Meiji period.

Viscount Tani Tateki (谷 干城, 18 March 1837 – 13 May 1911) was a statesman and lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in Meiji period Japan.

The Kazoku (華族, literally "Magnificent/Exalted lineage") was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947.

The Iwakura Mission or Iwakura Embassy (岩倉使節団, Iwakura Shisetsudan) was a Japanese diplomatic voyage to the United States and Europe conducted between 1871 and 1873 by leading statesmen and scholars of the Meiji period.

Kawakami Gensai (河上 彦斎, 25 December 1834 – 13 January 1872) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period.

Takasugi Shinsaku (高杉 晋作, 27 September 1839 – 17 May 1867) was a samurai from the Chōshū Domain of Japan who contributed significantly to the Meiji Restoration.

Count Katsu Kaishū (勝 海舟, March 12, 1823 – January 21, 1899) was a Japanese statesman and naval engineer during the late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period.

The abolition of the han system (廃藩置県 haihan-chiken) in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868.

Aoki Shūzō (青木 周藏, March 3, 1844 – February 16, 1914) was a diplomat and Foreign Minister in Meiji period Japan.

Peacemaker Kurogane (Japanese: PEACE MAKER鐵 Hepburn: Pīsu Meikā Kurogane) is a historical fiction manga series written and illustrated created by Nanae Chrono (黒乃 奈々絵 Kurono Nanae).

Matsudaira Yoshinaga (松平 慶永, October 10, 1828 – June 2, 1890), also known as Matsudaira Keiei, or Matsudaira Shungaku (春嶽) was a Japanese daimyo of the Edo period.

Ōe Taku (大江 卓, November 2, 1847 – September 21, 1921) was a samurai, bureaucrat, politician, entrepreneur and social activist in the late Meiji and Taishō period Empire of Japan.

Godai Tomoatsu (五代 友厚, February 12, 1836 – September 25, 1886) was one of the Satsuma students of 1865 who were smuggled out of Bakumatsu period Japan to study in Great Britain.

Itakura Katsukiyo (板倉 勝静, February 14, 1823 – April 6, 1889) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period.

Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa (北白川宮能久親王 Kitashirakawa-no-miya Yoshihisa-shinnō, 1 April 1847 – 5 November 1895) of Japan, was the second head of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family.

Hori Naotora (堀 直虎, September 26, 1836 – February 10, 1868) was a samurai of the late Edo period

Matsudaira Chikayoshi (松平 近説); (January 10, 1829 – November 11, 1886) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who served as daimyō of the Funai Domain (Bungo Province, 21,000 koku).

Saigō Tanomo (西郷 頼母, May 16, 1830 – April 28, 1903) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period.

Sir Ernest Mason Satow GCMG PC (30 June 1843 – 26 August 1929), was a British scholar, diplomat and Japanologist.

(In this Japanese name, the family name is Kusaka.) Kusaka Genzui (久坂 玄瑞, 1840 – 20 August 1864) was a samurai of the Japanese domain of Chōshū who was active during the Bakumatsu period and a key proponent of the sonnō jōi movement.

Mizuno Tadakiyo (水野 忠精, February 5, 1833 – May 8, 1884) was a daimyō during Bakumatsu period Japan, who served as chief senior councilor (Rōjū) in service to the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Goryo Hamaguchi (濱口 梧陵 Hamaguchi Goryō, June 15, 1820 – April 21, 1885) was the seventh business owner of current Yamasa Corporation in Japan.

Marquess Kuroda Nagahiro (黒田 長溥, March 1, 1811 – March 7, 1887) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period, who ruled the Fukuoka Domain.

Matsudaira Yasuhide (松平 康英) (July 16, 1830 – July 5, 1904) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period, who ruled the Tanakura and then Kawagoe Domains.

Kume Kunitake (久米 邦武, August 19, 1839 - February 24, 1931) was a historian in Meiji and Taishō period Japan.

The foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan, known in Japanese as oyatoi gaikokujin (Kyūjitai: 御雇ひ外國人, Shinjitai: 御雇い外国人, "hired foreigners"), were those foreign advisors hired by the Japanese government for their specialized knowledge to assist in the modernization of Japan at the end of the Bakufu and during the Meiji period.

Baron Maejima Hisoka (前島 密, January 24, 1835 – April 27, 1919), born 上野 房五郎 (Ueno Fusagorō), was a Japanese statesman, politician, and businessman in Meiji-period Japan.

Takamine Hideo (高嶺 秀夫, October 5, 1854 – February 22, 1910) was an administrator and educator in Meiji period Japan.

Kujō Michitaka (九条 道孝, June 11, 1839 – January 4, 1906), son of regent Nijō Hisatada and adopted son of his brother Yukinori, was a kuge or Japanese court noble of the late Edo period and politician of the early Meiji era who served as a member of the House of Peers.

Count Hayashi Tadasu, GCVO (林 董, April 11, 1850 – July 10, 1913) was a career diplomat and cabinet minister in Meiji period Japan.

The tondenhei (屯田兵) were military settler colonists recruited after the Meiji Restoration to develop and defend Japan's northern frontier in Hokkaidō against foreign nations, particularly Imperial Russia.

Yamaoka Tesshū (山岡 鉄舟, June 10, 1836 – July 19, 1888), also known as Ono Tetsutarō or Yamaoka Tetsutarō, was a famous samurai of the Bakumatsu period, who played an important role in the Meiji Restoration.

Inaba Masami (稲葉 正巳, November 15, 1815 – September 16, 1879) was daimyō of Tateyama Domain during late-Edo period Japan.

The Japanese term shinbutsu bunri (神仏分離) indicates the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the Meiji Restoration which separated Shinto kami from buddhas, and also Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, which were originally amalgamated.

Nakamura Masanao (中村 正直, 24 June 1832 – 7 June 1891) was a Japanese educator and leader during the Meiji period.

Yamauchi Toyoshige (山内 豊信, 1827–1872), also known as Yamauchi Yōdō (山内 容堂), was a Japanese daimyo in the Shikoku region in the late Edo period.

Viscount Inoue Kowashi (Japanese: 井上 毅, February 6, 1844 – March 15, 1895) was a statesman in Meiji period Japan.

Kanda Takahira (神田 孝平, 31 October 1830 – 5 July 1898) was a scholar and statesman in Meiji period Japan.

Tokugawa Yoshikatsu (徳川 慶勝, April 14, 1824 – August 1, 1883) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period, who ruled the Owari Domain.

Kobayashi Torasaburō (小林 虎三郎, September 26, 1828 - August 24, 1877) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, who served the Makino clan of Nagaoka.

Egawa Hidetatsu Tarōzaemon (江川英龍太郎左衛門, June 23, 1801 - March 1, 1855) was a Japanese Bakufu intendant of the 19th century.

Tanaka Fujimaro (田中 不二麿, 16 October 1845 – 8 September 1909) was a statesman and educator in Meiji period Japan.

Tokugawa Mochinaga (徳川 茂徳, June 11, 1831 – March 6, 1884) was a Japanese samurai who was an influential figure of the Bakumatsu period.

Hijikata Katsunaga (土方 雄永, April 22, 1851 – May 10, 1884) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period, who ruled the Komono Domain of Ise Province (modern-day Mie Prefecture).

Maeda Nariyasu (前田 斉泰) (August 28, 1811 – January 16, 1884) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period who ruled the Kaga Domain.

Makino Tadakatsu (牧野 忠毅, April 12, 1859 – February 3, 1918) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period.

Matsudaira Mochiaki (松平 茂昭, 17 September 1836–25 July 1890) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period.

Mizuno Katsutomo (水野 勝知); (March 21, 1838 – April 22, 1919)- Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period.

Nagakura Shinpachi (永倉 新八, May 23, 1839 – January 5, 1915) was the captain of the 2nd troop of the Shinsengumi.

Komatsu Kiyokado (小松 清廉, December 3, 1835 – August 16, 1870) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, who served the Shimazu clan of Satsuma, and went on to become a government official of the early Meiji period.

Date Yoshikuni (伊達 慶邦, October 17, 1825 – July 12, 1874) was a Japanese daimyo lord of the late Edo period.

Marquis Date Munenari (伊達 宗城, September 1, 1818 – December 20, 1892) was the eighth head of the Uwajima Domain during the Late Tokugawa shogunate and a politician of the early Meiji era.

Yokoi Shōnan (横井 小楠, September 22, 1809 – February 15, 1869); was a Bakumatsu and early Meiji period scholar and political reformer in Japan, influential around the fall of the Tokugawa bakufu.

Viscount Fukuoka Takachika (福岡 孝弟, February 5, 1835 – March 7, 1919) was a Japanese statesman of the Meiji period.

Nakaoka Shintarō (中岡 慎太郎, May 6, 1838 – December 12, 1867) was a samurai in Bakumatsu period Japan, and a close associate of Sakamoto Ryōma in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate.

The Takebashi incident was an armed rebellion that occurred on August 23, 1878, in which 260 members of the Imperial Guard of the Imperial Japanese Army mutinied and killed officers.

Makino Tadakuni (牧野 忠訓, September 26, 1844 – June 16, 1875) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period, who ruled the Nagaoka Domain.

Matsudaira Sadaaki (松平 定敬, January 18, 1847 – July 12, 1908) was a Japanese daimyo of the Bakumatsu period, who was the last ruler of the Kuwana Domain.

Numa Morikazu (沼間 守一, 2 December 1843 – 17 May 1890) was a politician and journalist in Meiji period Japan.

Prince Arisugawa Taruhito (有栖川宮熾仁親王 Arisugawa-no-miya Taruhito-Shinnō, March 17, 1835 – January 15, 1895) became the 9th head of the Arisugawa-no-miya (有栖川宮家) line of shinnōke cadet branches of the Imperial Family of Japan on September 9, 1871.

Akimoto Hirotomo (秋元 礼朝, May 16, 1848 – June 13, 1883) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who served as the lord of Tatebayashi han (Kōzuke Province).

Viscount Hoshina Masaari (保科 正益) (March 22, 1833 – January 23, 1888) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period who was the last ruler of the Iino Domain (Kazusa Province; 20,000 koku).

Hōjō Ujiyuki (北条 氏恭, September 19, 1845 – October 16, 1919) was a Japanese daimyo of the late Edo period who ruled the Sayama Domain of Kawachi Province.

Aoba Castle (青葉城 Aoba-jō) is a Japanese castle located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan.

Yamamoto Kakuma (山本 覚馬, February 25, 1828 – December 28, 1892) was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period, who went on to become an educator and politician in the Meiji era.