1868 Edo renamed Tokyo. The Meiji era began.

1869 Daimyo return their lands to the Throne.

1870 The boundaries between the social classes broken down Some of the samurai became noble, other became "shizoku" and some other mixed with the common people.

1871 The feudalism decaded and a new system based on prefectures took its place. The prefecture are ruled by an administrator named by the central government.

1872 First locomotive line between Shimbashi (Tokyo) and Yokohama opened. Public shools opened all over the country.

1873 The Japanese calendar is substituted with the Western one. Weapons are no moreallowed in the cities.

1874 Itagaki Taisuke ask the goverment to estabilish a popular parliament.

1877 First Industrial Exhibition held at Ueno Park. A civil war led by Nanshu Saigo took place in Kyushu, but it's easily stopped.

1879 The First Tokyo-fu (Tokyo "Prefecture") Conference held.

1882 The first zoo opened in Ueno.

1885 The first prime minister, Hirobumi Ito, organized a Cabinet.

1887 Electricity illuminated Tokyo for the first time.

1888 Municipal organization system started.

1889 Dainippon Imperial Constitution promulgated. Tokyo-shi ("Tokyo city") included 15 ku (wards).

1893 Three Tama Areas incorporated into Tokyo-fu from Kanagawa Prefecture. Tokyo Station retains vestiges of the Meiji era.

1894 Tokyo-fu Government Building was completed in Marunouchi, Tokyo. Sino-Japanese War (-1895)

1902 Japan and Great Britain allied

1904 Russo-Japanese War (-1905)

1910 Korea became part of Japan)

In Japan, during the feudal age, the society was divided into four classes: warriors, farmers, craftsmen and merchants.
The word samurai (who serve) appears for the first time during the Heian Period (794 - 1185) and from this moment the history of Japan becomes the history of Samurai, at least until the Meiji Restoration (1876).
The first model of Samurai was the horse-bowman. During the fights for the throne after the death of Emperor Tenchi (671) this new kind of warrior increased the agility and the velocity of the armies.
Born as a special rank in the warrior class under the Emperor's orders, the Samurai - who can be considered the knights of Japan - turned then into a very social elite between the ninth and the twelfth century. They were the most powerful class and they were lords and "policemen" at the same time. But they had also to follow a very severe honor code, with many sacrifices and a true loyalty to their own lord.
The behaviour laws for a samurai were encoded by the Bushido (the way of the warrior, bushi=warrior). This code was absolutely secret and was taught from father to son or from master to pupil during the training of the martial arts. The kids learnt the use of the bow (kyu jutsu), of the sword (ken jutsu) and also to fight with no weapon. The code of Bushido had the purpose to push the warrior towards the moral and spiritual integrity: the honor was everything for a samurai, it was so important than not only the bushido showed the way for a good life but also he described the better way to die, during a fight or performing seppuku (the suicide). The seppuku was prescribed in several circumstances, as after loosing a battle in order to not become a prisoner, for following the lord in the other world, when they disagree or disobey their lord or it was ordered if the samurai did not complete a mission with honor. If a samurai refused sappuku he would become a ronin looking for another lord or joining the outlaws.
In order to protect themselves during the battle, the samurai were wearing an armor that had also the purpose to distinguish the clan and the importance of the warriors. It was made of light protection that allow the movements. The most showy part of the armor was the helm (kabuto) that could have the strangest shape and was accompanied by a terrific mask,. In the XVII century the armor were abandoned.
The most important weapon for a samurai was the sword. Every warrior had two swords (daisho): a long one and a short one, from which they never divided and it was also called "the guardian of the honor". The long sword (daito - katana) was more than 60 cm long, the short one (shoto - wakizashi) was between 30 and 60 cm.
Samurai often gave a name to their sword and they considered it a kami, a divinity that could give or take life.
The most ancient sword were straight and they were imported from Korea or China. But since the samurai wanted more resistant sword, they soon become curved. The blade was made of a many metals with a big percentage of Carbon.
The blacksmith was very important in the craft of the swords, it was from him that the sword received its physical and spiritual characteristics. It was not enough for him to be a good craftsman, he had to have also very high spiritual quality he could transmit to the sword. Every family of blacksmith had a different technique that was passed from generation in generation.
When a samurai died his sword was given to his son or pupil.

Glossary

Batto jutsu - art of drawing the sword
Budo - Martial arts or fighting techniques
Bushido - way of warrior
Chokuto - straight sword used by the first samurai
Daimyo - feudal lord
Daisho - the two sword of a samurai (a long one - katana, a short one- wakizashi)
Giri - duties of a samurai
Kampaku - lord
Katana - long sword
Ken - sword - especially is ancient and with a double blade
Ken-jutsu - art of sword
Kyo-jutsu - art of bow
Kyuba no michi - way of horse and bow
Muramasa - sword maker
Naginata - long halberd
No-dachi - long sword
Ronin (o Ruroni) - samurai without lord
Ryu - martial arts school
Samurai - a member of the warrior class
Sensei - master
Seppuku - ritual suicide
Shogun - supreme general ("Lord of War")
So-jutsu - art of spear
Sohei - warrior monk
Tachi - long curved sword used by theancient samurai
Wakizashi - short sword

The Oniwaban was an elite of ninja who were at guard of the Edo Castle during the Togukawa Era.

For hundreds of years the IGA (Togakure) group of ninja were the major force in Ninjitsu, however smaller groups existed in other parts of Japan. Within these groups of spies, saboteurs, and killers, another family incread its power, namely the deadly KOGA of Shiga prefecture.

Interestingly, Shiga is next to the Mie prefecture in southern Japan. So, the KOGA and IGA inhabited the same mountain range, in two valleys divided by a mountain.

During the centuries, several leaders such as Takeda Shingen, Oda Nobunga, and perhaps the greatest general in Japanese History, Tokugawa Ieyasu all employed the Ninja to help control the country through a complex spy network.

With the close of the Sengoku era in 1600, three hundred years of peace and prosperity followed, known as the Tokugawa era. Up until this time the capital of Japan had been in Kyoto, but Tokugawa moved the capital to Edo (Tokyo today). He took with him three hundred Ninja from the KOGA and IGA groups as personal bodyguards. So the 'Oniwaban' group of ninja set, not as an espionage unit, but as an internal security unit. Later these Ninja guarded the castle in Tokyo.



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These are all the information I've been able to find. If you notice any error or have more information, please contact me by e-mail.^_^

Here are some information about the Shinsengumi, the military group, rally existed, to which also Hajime Saito belongs.

Following the arrival of the American Commodore Matthew Perry, in 1853, Japan was found in a serious situation of chaos and panic.
Many samurais, in first place those of the lowest ranks, started to doubt about the real ability of the Shogun to defend the nation and they abandoned their lords to reach Kyoto and join the revolutionary movement.
Nevertheless they didn't know what movement to join and in this way they created a even more chaotic situation in the capital. In fact there were different schools of thought all with the common patriotic ideal of helping Japan.
At the same time, in the district of Tama, near Edo (the actual Tokyo), there was a school of kenjutsu, the Shieikan, where the Tennen Rishin Ryuu was practiced. The teacher was Kondou Isami, and among his students there were Hijikata Toshizou, Okita Souji and Inoue Genzaburou, that were just like brothers. There were also others that attended the school to only receive a free lunch as Yamanami Seisuke, Harada Sanosuke and Nagakura Shinpachi. When at the dojo they heard about the situation of Kyoto, these samurais decided to reach the capital, pushed by a strong patriotism, followed by some other disciples.
To Kyoto, they enlisted with the Kiyokawa Hachirou and they were enrolled as "Defenders of Kyoto" by Matsudaira Katamori, the Daimyo of Aizu.
In reality Kiyokawa, although officially declaring himself on the part of the Bakufu, it was on the other side and he wanted to gather as many samurais as possibile and train them as Ishin Shishis. The Shogun however was informed about his betrayal and he gave order to murder Kiyokawa before its plan was realized. After these facts Kondou decided to support the Shogun and founded the group of the Shinsengumi composed of 13 members reunited under the kanji "Makoto" (loyalty).
The hierarchical structure was the following:

Captains: Serizawa Kamo, Kondou Isami, Niimi Nishigi
Vice Captains: Hijikata Toshizo, Yamanami Keisuke.

At this point different other samurais joined to the group.
Nevertheless the relationships among the members inside the Shinsengumi were not very friendly. This also because of the behavior of people as Serizawa and Niimi that hid behind the name of the Shinsengumi all of their iniquities. Thanks to the attitude of Serizawa that was often drunk and wrangler, the Shinsengumi gained the appellative of "Wolves of Mibu", since to the beginning the troops were gathered in the village of Mibu, so vagabond of Mibu (Mibu-ro) became Wolves of Mibu (Mibu-ro).
Niimi, after a fire hung to an inn by Niimi himself and from Serizawa, was ordered to practice seppuku by Serizawa himself who manage to revert on the companion the whole guilt.
Following these facts, Serizawa was murdered by a special group, together with the other corrupted Shinsengumi, and Kondou and Hijikata decided to make the entry of new samurais in the group more difficulty and to make the rule more severe. This way whoever was not involved according to the rules of honor of the samurais was killed or it was ordered to practice seppuku.
The assignment of the Shinsengumi was essentially to patrol the roads of Kyoto and keep the peace and the order. They swore to protect Kyoto with their own sword.
In that epoch who was not able to prove his identity and not to be a member of some group that plotted against the Soghun was immediately killed. This facts made the Shinsengumi become very feared for their lack of pity and for their severity in the punishments.
Their preferred combative technique was many against one (or few), and this became more evident as soon as the group of the Shinsengumi enlarged.
A night, in June of 1864, the Ikeda-ya's Affair happened. The Shinsegumi succeeded in killing quite a lot members of the Ishin Shishis, theirs harshest enemies, and they became in a night the national heroes. Although victorious this mission resulted for the Shinsengumi in a very high price to be paid in lifes.
With the grow of national admiration, the Shinsegumi became a more and more large group, up to count 300 members, and it was necessary therefore to constitute a more organized inside structure.

Captain: Kandou isami
Vice captain: Hijikata Toshizo
Military adviser: Itou Kashitarou

Commanders of the 10 unities:
1: Okita Souji
2: Nagakura Shinpachi
3: Saitou Hajime
4: Matsubara Tadaji
5: Takeda Kanryuusai
6: Inoue Genzaburou
7: Tani Sanjyuurou
8: Toudou Heisuke
9: Suzuki Mikisaburou
10: Harada Sanosuke

Every unity included besides the commander, two lance-corporals and ten men.

The Five Articles Of The Shinsen Gumi Law
(from Serizawa Kamo's Biography)

Dai ichijou: Shidou ni somuki majiki koto.
First Article: It's not allowed to deviate from the path proper to man.

Dai nijou: Kyoku wo dassuru kotowo yurusazu.
Second Article: It's not allowed to leave the Shinsengumi.

Dai sanjyou: Katte ni kinsaku itasubekarazu.
Third Article: It's not allowed to raise money privately.

Dai shijou: Katte ni soshou toriatsukaubekarazu.
Fourth Article: It's not allowed to take part in other's litigation(other than Shinsengumi's).

Dai gojou: Watakushi no tousou wo yurusazu.
Fifth Article: It's not allowed to engage in private fights.


These five articles were read in front of every Shinsengumi member, along with some more items.

"Kumigashira ga moshi toushi shita baaiwa, kumishuu wa sono ba de toushi subeshi."
"If the leader of a unit is mortally wounded in a fight, all the members of the unit must fight and die on the spot."

"Hageshiki kokou ni oite shishou zokushutsusutomo kumigashira no shitai no hoka wa hikishirizokukotomakarinarazu."
"Even in a fight where the death toll is high, it is not allowed to retrieve the bodies of the dead, except the corpse of the leader of the unit."

"Moshi taishiga koumuni yorazushite machi de taigai no mono to arasoi, teki to yaiba wo kawashi, jibunga kizu wo oite aite wo shitomekirazuni nigashita baai, ushirokizu no baai no gotokimo seppuku wo meizuru."
"If a Shinsengumi member engage in a fight with a stranger, be it on duty or not, if he is wounded and can't kill the enemy, allowing him to run away, even in case of a wound in the back, seppuku is ordered."