Tokugawa Yoshinobu
The prince's awareness of the political turmoil is uncertain. During this time, he studied "waka" poetry, first with his father, then with the court poets. In 1866, a new shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, took office as the prince continued his classical education. Tokugawa Yoshinobu was a reformer who desired to transform Japan into a Western-style state. Yoshinobu was the final "shōgun" and met with resistance from among the "bakufu", even as unrest and military actions continued. In mid-1866, a "bakufu" army set forth to punish rebels in southern Japan. The army was defeated.