On this day 157 years ago, on January 3, 1868 (December 9, 1867 lunar calendar), Japan's Meiji Restoration. On January 3, 1868, Emperor Meiji of Japan issued the "Five Departments Retro" imperial edict, which was the beginning of Japan's famous Meiji Restoration Movement. In the mid-19th century, Japan, which had always pursued the "lock-in policy", was invaded by the United States, Britain, France, Russia and other countries, and was facing a serious national crisis. The Japanese people hated foreign invaders, and even more hated the shogunate that colluded with the invaders. Peasants and citizens revolted one after another and launched the "down curtain" movement; reform forces among middle and lower-class samurai, merchants, capitalists and emerging landlords also participated in the "down curtain" struggle. On January 3, a coup d'état was launched, and Emperor Meiji convened a imperial council attended by the royal ministers, daimyo and samurai of the Fallen Shogunate, and announced that the "five governments will be retro", the emperor will be restored, the shogunate will be abolished, a new central government will be established, and the shogunate general Tokugawa will be ordered to hand over his territory and property. On the night of January 6, Tokugawa Kiyoshi fled to Osaka and concentrated his troops to counterattack. Civil war broke out. At the end of January, the Fallen Shogunate Army defeated the shogunate army near Kyoto, and Tokugawa fled to Edo. In February, the emperor organized the Shogunate Army. Thanks to the active cooperation of the vast number of peasants and the urban poor, the Fallen Shogunate Army finally defeated the shogunate army that was three times larger than its own number. Tokugawa Kiyoshi was forced to Emperor Meiji abolished the prefecture and divided the country into three prefectures and 72 prefectures. He eliminated the feudal separatist forces in the country and established a unified centralized state, which cleared the obstacles for the development of capitalism. Since then, under the leadership of Emperor Meiji, a series of reforms have been carried out to put Japan on the road of developing capitalism. This is called the "Meiji Restoration" in Japanese history. Itagaki retired to help Itagaki, who is generally recognized as the ancestor of the Japanese free civil rights movement and the pioneer of Japanese constitutional politics. The Japanese called him the "god" of constitutional government, and erected a bronze statue for him in the Imperial Parliament Hall, and even the 100-yuan banknotes that are popular in Japan today are also printed with his beautiful bearded portrait, so that he will always be remembered by the world. During the Meiji Restoration, Japan opened a steel factory. Japanese brothel during the Meiji period