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In 1871, the was an act to replace the traditional han system and introduce new local government. "Han system" is also translated as "feudal clan system" or "daimyo system."
In an attempt to wipe out feudalism in Japan, the new Meiji government, which replaced the Tokugawa shogunate, abolished hundreds of feudal domains or ''han''. This process was begun by a formal request from the leaders of Satsuma, Chōshū, Tosa, and Hizen that the Emperor receive back the lands which were rightfully his, to be redistributed as he (i.e. the Imperial government) saw fit. Thus, geographical distribution of domains as established by the Tokugawa shoguns was rendered obsolete. The Court formally accepted this request on July 25, 1869, by which time it had already received similar requests from many of the other domains who followed up on the precedent set. In this , daimyo remained in control of their domains for the time being, the land being only nominally returned to the Emperor (just as it had nominally been owned by the shoguns on behalf of the Emperor previously). Daimyo became governors, and lost the privileges of hereditary succession along with ownership of the domain's tax revenues. Ten percent of tax revenues were allowed to be kept by the governors for their own household and local expenses.^[1]
In their place it established a new local government scheme based on geographically defined prefectures. This system is still in effect today, although the number of prefectures, and their boundaries, have changed. It brought the shogunate and domain system or ''bakuhan taisei'' to a formal end, though it did not remove it completely.
Makino Nobuaki, a student member of the Iwakura mission was to remark in his memoirs: ''Together with the abolition of the han system, dispatching the Iwakura Mission to America and Europe must be cited as the most important events that built the foundation of our state after the Restoration.''
Initially there were over 300 prefectures, corresponding to the number of han, but this number was reduced to 72 by the end of 1871, and the present 47 by 1888.

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References

1. Jansen, Marius (2000). The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp344-345.

See also

★ Meiji period