Etō Shimpei

Etō Shimpei (born March 18, 1834, Hizen province, Japan—died April 13, 1874, Saga prefecture, Kyushu) was a statesman who played a leading role in the Meiji Restoration (the 1868 return of power to the emperor and overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate). Although Etō was not a native of Chōshū or of Satsuma, the two feudal fiefs that played the leading role in the Meiji Restoration, he was responsible for the support given the imperial forces...