page_title: Daimyo
section_title: After the Meiji Restoration
hierarchical_section_title: Daimyo / After the Meiji Restoration
caption_attribution_description: English: Toshisada Maeda日本語: 前田利定
context_page_description: Daimyo were powerful Japanese feudal lords who—until their decline in the early Meiji period—ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. Subordinate to the shōgun and nominally to the emperor and the kuge, daimyo were powerful feudal rulers from the 10th century to the middle 19th century in Japan. In the term, dai means "large", and myō stands for myōden, meaning "private land".
  From the shugo of the Muromachi period through the Sengoku to the daimyo of the Edo period, the rank had a long and varied history. The backgrounds of daimyo also varied considerably; while some daimyo clans, notably the Mōri, Shimazu and Hosokawa, were cadet branches of the Imperial family or were descended from the kuge, other daimyo were promoted from the ranks of the samurai, notably during the Edo period.
  Daimyo often hired samurai to guard their land, and they paid the samurai in land or food as relatively few could afford to pay samurai in money. The daimyo era ended soon after the Meiji Restoration with the adoption of the prefecture system in 1871.
  The term "daimyo" sometimes refers to the leading figures of such clans, also called "lord".
context_section_description: In 1869, the year after the Meiji Restoration, the daimyo, together with the kuge, formed a new aristocracy, the kazoku. In 1871, the han were abolished, and prefectures were established. In this year, around 200 daimyo returned their titles to the emperor, who consolidated their han into 75 prefectures. Their military forces were also demobilized, with the daimyo and their samurai followers pensioned into retirement. The move to abolish the feudal domains effectively ended the daimyo era in Japan. This was effectively carried out through the financial collapse of the feudal-domain governments, hampering their capability for resistance. 
  In the wake of the changes, many daimyo remained in control of their lands, being appointed as prefectural governors; however, they were soon relieved of this duty and called en masse to Tokyo, thereby cutting off any independent base of power from which to potentially rebel. Despite this, members of former daimyo families remained prominent in government and society, and in some cases continue to remain prominent to the present day. For example, Morihiro Hosokawa, the former prime minister, is a descendant of the daimyo of Kumamoto.
caption: Viscount Maeda Toshisada, the eldest son of Maeda Toshiaki, the final daimyō of Nanokaichi Domain in Kōzuke Province.
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