Late Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate or last shogun (幕末; Bakumatsu) is the period between 1853 and 1867 during which Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy and modernized from a feudal shogunate to the Meiji government. It is at end of Edo period and preceded by Meiji era.

Well-known figures in this time include:

• Ohmura Masujiro
• Sakamoto Ryoma
• Kondo Isami
• Takasugi Shinsaku
• Yoshida Shoin
• Katsura Kogoro
• Nomura Motoni

(alas, below are not so well-known)

• Hayashi Daigaku no kami (Lord Rector, Confucianist)
• Ido Tsushima no kami (Governor of Yedo, former Gov. of Nagasaki)
• Izawa Mimasaka no kami (Gov. of Uraga, former Gov of Nagasaki)

Foreign observer Ernest Satow in Japan 1862-69