-
Meiji
Restoration of Imperial rule is declared. Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu attacks Kyoto, commencing the Boshin War. Yoshinobu surrenders in Edo in May, but fighting between pro-Tokugawa and pro-imperial forces continues in eastern Japan until May 1869. -
Domains
The emperor announces that the domains shall be placed under the control of the central government. Daimyo are subsequently appointed local governors, a practice that ends in 1871 when the domains are abolished altogether. -
Emancipation Edict
Council of State issues the Emancipation Edict, abolishing the titles of eta and hinin, terms for outcast groups, and calling for equal treatment. In separate decrees, samurai are allowed to cut off their topknots and lay down their swords, and marriage among samurai, aristocrats, and commoners is permitted. -
silk
Tomioka model filature begins production. The government spent great sums building and equipping this facility in the hopes of raising much-needed foreign capital, and although the quality of the silk receives international recognition the business is plagued by mismanagement and financial difficultya fate typical of the government’s model factories. -
Conscription Ordinance
Following several years of samurai resistance to the idea of a mass conscript army, the Conscription Ordinance is promulgated. In theory, conscription is universal, but the system includes a number of exemptions and loopholes. Protests ensue and lead to nearly 100,000 arrests. The ordinance is revised in 1889 to make conscription universal. -
First National Industrial Exposition
First National Industrial Exposition opens in Ueno Park. Over 102 days, some 450,000 spectators visit buildings devoted to such themes as machinery, horticulture, and farming. A steam locomotive and a spinning machine are especially popular among the nearly 100,000 items displayed by more than sixteen thousand exhibitors. -
Agricultural Protest
Over 10,000 farmers in Chichibu attack local government offices and sack the homes of moneylenders in the largest of numerous peasant protests in the region. Reduced agricultural prices due to deflationary government policies had been pressing agricultural incomes for several years. In restoring order, government troops arrested more than 3,000 peasants, five of whom were hanged the following year. -
Imperial Rescript is promulgated
Imperial Rescript on Education is promulgated. This document is distributed to all schools and conjoins the concepts of filiality, civic responsibility, and imperial loyalty in articulating a moral foundation for education. It will be displayed together with a portrait of the emperor and read on ceremonial occasions until its repudiation in 1948.