Sanjō Sanetomi

Sanjō Sanetomi (born Jan. 3, 1838, Kyōto, Japan—died Feb. 18, 1891, Tokyo) was a radical court noble who was instrumental in the Meiji Restoration (1868), which ended the 264-year domination of Japan by the Tokugawa family and reestablished ruling authority with the emperor. After the restoration, Sanjō became an important leader of the new government. In his youth he was a political leader of the court nobles gathered around the emperor. In 1862, when the...