These changes commenced in Vovember 1867 when the last Tokugawa shogun, Yoshinobu, agreed to return political rule to the emperor, and culminated in January 1868 when the restoration of imperial rule under Emperor Meiji was proclaimed.
Besides formally transferring political power from the Tokugawa clan to the emperor, the Meiji Restoration triggered Japan's transition from a decentralized feudal system to a unified modern state.