The samurai were the hereditary warrior and ruling class of feudal Japan.

Under the 250 years of peace of the Tokugawa Shogunate, their traditional military role had become largely obsolete.

The Meiji Restoration of 1868 brought about the end of the samurai as a distinct social class.

The new government abolished the feudal domains and the samurai's traditional role as lords (daimyo).

In 1873, a modern, conscripted army based on the Western model was established, making the samurai's military skills redundant.

The government gradually abolished the hereditary stipends that had been paid to the samurai.

In 1876, the samurai were officially forbidden from wearing their two swords in public, the most visible symbol of their status.

These reforms led to significant discontent among many former samurai.

The last major samurai uprising against the new government was the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877, which was crushed by the new imperial army.

The end of the samurai class was a crucial step in the creation of a modern, centralized Japanese state.