The new Meiji oligarchs of Japan required the daimyo, the feudal lords of the noble samurai warrior class, and their han (domains) to be abolished.
In 1869, the daimyo of the pro-Meiji Satsuma and Chōshū domains agreed to make a formal declaration of returning their land and population registers to the Emperor, with the understanding that he would then confirm their holdings as prefectural governors.
All the shizoku received were small stipends which were later changed to government bonds, and the Meiji oligarchs urged them to find other lines of work in agriculture, forestry, business and the colonization of Hokkaido.
As a result, radical counterrevolutionary sentiment began to develop among the disillusioned shizoku, particularly in hope of overthrowing the new government while it was weak and restoring the shogunate.
The Shinpūren rebellion was defeated by the next morning, but the surprising number of casualties inflicted on the Imperial Japanese Army and Kumamoto Prefecture officials inspired other shizoku to rebel.
In 1878, the shizoku counterrevolution ended with the assassination of the oligarch Ōkubo Toshimichi, also from Satsuma, because he had opposed invading Korea and reforms installed by the Meiji state.