Many of the strongest tozama domains were located in western Japan away from the centres of power, with the fudai often controlling government offices, but with smaller provinces to incentivise them to preserve the system.

Historian William G. Beasley argues that there was a tension between this official state ideology that encouraged enlightened meritocratic rule and the rigid class structure that prevented the lower and middle ranking samurai bureaucrats from advancing their position.

[15] When faced with the immediate danger the foreign threat possessed, the work of kokugaku scholars led to an evaluation of what was national, which focused attention on the Emperor and Shintō.

[16] Sakuma Shōzan was a middle-ranking samurai under the daimyō Sanada Yukinori of Matsushiro Domain, he held a conservative attitude to the social development of Japanese society, but was practical in his approach to the adoption of Western technology.

[19] His efforts to promote men of talent (who would be drawn exclusively from the samurai class), and reorganise the Japanese military were incredibly influential among his disciples, not least Katsu Kaishū and Yoshida Shōin.

Many samurai were often constantly in debt, with the daimyō living under a system of enforced expenditure by the bakufu to carry out (among other things) the sankin-kōtai process and public works projects.

[27] The changing economic history of the Edo period drastically altered the traditionally rigid social hierarchy of Tokugawa Japan, with new land becoming available for cultivation and new outlets for commercial trade and manufacturing.

This socio-cultural development combined with strict regulation and censorship on the topic of politics created a "seldom penetrated" lack of international consciousness.

[30] Over the course of the Edo period, a number of incidents had occurred where Russians had come into contact with Japanese people due to exploration east by the former and north by the latter.

[32] During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain assumed control over Dutch colonial possessions in south-east Asia, during this time Dejima was supplied by neutral charter ships from other countries.

[37] From 1843 reports started to circulate of British and French interests in the Ryukyu Islands, then in 1844 the Dutch King William II sent a letter to Japanese officials advising them to take the initiative in their interactions with foreign powers.

[43] American interests in Japan derived from ambitions to capitalise on the China trade and to ensure the protection of shipwrecked seamen, especially those of the essential and lucrative whaling industry.

Future rōju Hotta Masayoshi; fudai lord Ii Naosuke; and Shimazu Nariakira of Satsuma Domain agreed to some level of compromise (if only temporarily); whereas Yamauchi Yōdō recommended rejecting the treaty while enlisting Dutch specialists to assist in manufacturing weapons, and Tokugawa Nariaki gave the expulsionist view of the Mito School.

[d] Advocating a will to resist, Aizawa believed a policy of sonnō jōi (revere the Emperor, expel the barbarian) would create a unity and resolution among the people.

The shōgun would be responsible for subordinating the interests of the Tokugawa family to those of the Japanese people, by revering the Emperor as a symbol of the kokutai or national polity.

[56][57] The Nagasaki Naval Training Centre was founded in 1855 with Katsu Kaishū serving in an important administrative function, and the individual domains were encouraged to build their own shipyards.

Leveraging his position by instilling a fear of British and French imperialism (who were in the process of fighting the Second Opium War), he pursued negotiations with Hotta, and in 1857 was granted an audience with shōgun Tokugawa Iesada.

[60] In 1858, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce was confirmed, with provisions allowing for ambassadorial residence in Edo, extraterritoriality, the toleration of Christianity, and the opening of five ports for free trade between 1859 and 1863.

[62] With the provisions of the treaties unpopular among both reformist and reactionary daimyō, Hotta sought to silence critics by seeking the approval of Emperor Kōmei (the outcome of which he considered a certainty).

However, members of the Court were themselves influenced by Mito School writings and by the time Hotta reached Kyōto, they had been directly petitioned by anti-treaty daimyō, including Tokugawa Nariaki.

It is desirable that the representatives of the treaty powers recognize this announcement.The foundation of the Meiji Restoration was the 1866 Satsuma-Chōshū Alliance between Saigō Takamori and Kido Takayoshi, leaders of the reformist elements in the Satsuma and Chōshū Domains at the southwestern end of the Japanese archipelago.

The defeat of the armies of the former shōgun (led by Enomoto Takeaki and Hijikata Toshizō) marked the final end of the Tokugawa shogunate, with the Emperor's power fully restored.

"[83] Under the leadership of Mori Arinori, a group of prominent Japanese intellectuals went on to form the Meiji Six Society in 1873 to continue to "promote civilization and enlightenment" through modern ethics and ideas.

By the end of the Meiji period, attendance in public schools was widespread, increasing the availability of skilled workers and contributing to the industrial growth of Japan.

Many people believed it was essential for Japan to acquire western "spirit" in order to become a great nation with strong trade routes and military strength.

There were a few factories set up using imported technologies in the 1860s, principally by Westerners in the international settlements of Yokohama and Kobe, and some local lords, but these had relatively small impacts.

[91] During the Meiji period, powers such as Europe and the United States helped transform Japan and made them realise a change needed to take place.

Since the feudal system was abolished and the fiefs (han) theoretically reverting to the emperor, the national government saw no further use for the upkeep of these now obsolete castles.

[94] Some however were explicitly saved from destruction by interventions from various persons and parties such as politicians, government and military officials, experts, historians, and locals who feared a loss of their cultural heritage.

In the blood tax riots, the Meiji government put down revolts by Japanese samurai angry that the traditional untouchable status of burakumin was legally revoked.