Prefectures, Power, and Centralization: Japan’s Abolition of the Feudal Domains Aug 27, 2021 In 1871, Japan abolished the system of feudal domains that had existed for seven centuries - Abolishing 700 yrs in 3 yrs with no bloodshed.
Griffis’s account continues:
Tomorrow Fukui bids farewell to feudalism. On the next day we shall be in a province without a prince. The era of loyalty is passed. The era of patriotism has come … resting upright before him as he sat on his knees, were the three thousand samurai of the Fukui clan . . .
It was more than a farewell to their feudal lord. It was the solemn burial of the institutions under which their fathers had lived for seven hundred years. … Each face seemed to wear a far-away expression, as if their eyes were looking into the past, or striving to probe an uncertain future. … In conclusion, he adjured all his followers to tranfer their allegiance wholly to the mikado and the imperial house.
It is the policy of the government to send the men of one ken to act as officers in another, and thus break up local prejudices. Every thing pertaining to feudal Fukui is passing away. Japan is becoming unified. Nevertheless, it causes some local suffering, and the poverty of many families, once in comfort, is increasing. . . .