Britannica
Sources used in this answer
When did the Meiji Restoration take place in Japan?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Meiji Restoration
After the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Meiji emperor became the formal head of a new imperial government under whose reign Japan was transformed from an isolated feudal society into a modern, industrialized global power.
The Meiji Restoration was a political revolution that took place in 1868. The formal coup d’état occurred on January 3, 1868, in the imperial capital of Kyoto, marking the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and the return of power to the imperial house under the Meiji emperor.12
While the restoration event itself occurred in 1868, the subsequent Meiji period—an era of significant modernization and social change—continued from 1868 until 1912. The political and social revolution initiated by the restoration was not considered fully complete until the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution in 1889.1