In 1868, the samurai were outlawed and disbanded, marking the end of Japan’s feudal system and the beginning of the modern era. The Meiji Restoration, a series of events in 1868, restored effective imperial rule under Emperor Meiji. While emperors had existed before the Restoration, this event restored real power to the emperor, solidifying the political system under imperial leadership.
The Meiji Restoration accelerated Japan’s industrialization, leading to its rise as a military power by 1905 under the slogan “Enrich the country, strengthen the military.” The Meiji oligarchy, which formed the government under the emperor, first introduced measures to strengthen its power in opposition to the remnants of the Edo period’s government, the shogunate, the daimyos, and the samurai class. With the Restoration came many changes, including the establishment of a modern, Western-style conscripted military in 1873. Despite comprising only 10% of the population, the powerful samurai lost their exclusive right to be the nation’s military force and eventually lost the right to publicly wear their swords.
These rare photographs, scrambled together by Retronaut, capture the samurai at the end of this era, from 1863 to 1900.
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