Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Meiji Restoration began on the 3rd of January 1868 when domain troops seized control of the Imperial Palace. This event marked the end of Tokugawa shogunate rule and the return to direct imperial governance under Emperor Meiji.
Key figures included Iwakura Tomomi, Matsudaira Shungaku, Nakayama Tadayasu, Okubo, Kido Takayoshi, Itō Hirobumi, Saigō Takamori, and Katsu Kaishū. These leaders orchestrated political reforms, military victories, and administrative reorganizations that transformed feudal domains into prefectures.
The han system was formally abolished in August 1871 when 302 domains were reorganized into 72 prefectures. This centralization occurred after missions visited former anti-alliance domains between 1870 and 1871 to implement collective decisions ending daimyo autonomy.
Revenue from raw silk exports funded purchases of industrial equipment and raw materials despite slow adoption of modern machines. The government also imposed land tax rates around 30 percent on peasant farmers to generate funds for shipyards, iron smelters, and spinning mills.
Samurai lost privileges like carrying swords openly and received options to convert stipends into government bonds starting in June 1874. Nationwide conscription instituted in 1873 mandated four years of service for every male turning twenty-one followed by three reserve years while Dampatsurei Edict issued in 1871 forced men of samurai classes to cut hair short.