Meiji oligarchy
In 1871, the government issued the "Danpatsurei" Edict, allowing "samurai" to cut their top-knots and wear their hair in the Western manner. However, this was not required, simply allowed and encouraged. Universal military conscription was instituted in 1873, and with the creation of the Imperial Japanese Army, the "samurai" lost their monopoly on military service. The hereditary stipends provided to the "samurai" by their formal feudal lords (and assumed by the central government in 1871) were likewise abolished in 1873. The prohibition on wearing swords was controversial with the Meiji oligarchy, but the argument that it was an anachronism not in keeping with the westernization of Japan won out.