Kagoshima, city (1990 pop. 536,752), capital of Kagoshima prefecture, extreme S Kyushu, Japan, on Satsuma Peninsula and Kagoshima Bay. An important port, it has a navy yard. The city's industr...

Oyama, Iwao, 1842–1916, Japanese field marshal. A native of Satsuma and a follower of Okubo Toshimichi, he worked to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and restore the emperor. Made acting war m...

Saigo, Takamori, 1828–77, Japanese soldier and statesman noted for his obstinate conservatism. He was an early opponent of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was exiled (1859–64) but returned to train...

Matsukata, Masayoshi, 1835–1924, Japanese statesman. A Satsuma clansman and a genro, he was a leading figure in the modernization of Japan. As finance minister (1881–91) his programs stimulate...

Itagaki, Taisuke, 1837–1919, Japanese statesman. After taking part in the Meiji restoration, he became (1869) a councillor of state. A samurai of Tosa, he opposed domination of the government ...

Genro [ Jap.,=elder statesmen], a group that exercised collective leadership in Japan from the end of the Meiji period until c.1932. After the Meiji restoration (1868), Westernizers from the f...

Okubo, Toshimichi, 1830–78, Japanese statesman. A major figure in the Meiji restoration, he was influential in introducing Western ideas to Japan. He supported the emperor against the shogun a...

Samurai, knights of feudal Japan, retainers of the daimyo. This aristocratic warrior class arose during the 12th-century wars between the Taira and Minamoto clans and was consolidated in the T...

Kyushu, island (1990 pop. 13,064,955), c.13,760 sq mi (35,640 sq km), S Japan. It is the third largest, southernmost, and most densely populated of the major islands of Japan. It is separated ...

Meiji restoration, The term refers to both the events of 1868 that led to the restoration of power to the emperor and the entire period of revolutionary changes that coincided with the Meiji e...