A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower (39 page)

Ch
sh
’s epoch-making stands against the Tokugawa sh
gunate – the first time a domain had successfully defied it – was aided by Satsuma’s decision not to join the sh
gunal forces. Both domains were rivals for the favours of an imperial court that now sensed an opportunity to reassert itself after many centuries of tokenism. They had fought each other over the matter as recently as 1863, and Satsuma had prevailed. However, soon afterwards the two domains had formed an alliance. This alliance too was to be epoch-making.

In January 1867 there was a new sh
gun, Yoshinobu (1837–1913, also known as Keiki). He seemed unusually capable, undertaking a number of constructive administrative reforms. He also seemed keen on a constructive rapprochement of sh
gunate and court. The opponents of the sh
gunate now had to act quickly. A delay might prove their undoing, and allow a reformed sh
gunate to continue.

Helped by Iwakura Tomomi (1825–83), a court noble with Ch
sh
connections, an alliance of
tozama
domains led by Satsuma and Ch
sh
managed to obtain an imperial rescript calling for the abolition of the sh
gunate. With this authority, on 3 January 1868 they occupied the palace and declared an ‘imperial restoration’. Though opposition from sh
gunal supporters was to continue for some time afterwards, Yoshinobu himself, after a brief period of indecisiveness and uncoordinated resistance, presently accepted this declaration. He retired to Shizuoka to live out the remaining 45 years of his life peacefully.