# Meiji script: sources and confidence

Checked 2026-11-03. Secondary sources; none of the primary decrees were read directly. Dates are Western.
Lunar dates were converted by the cited source unless marked "calculated".

## Calendar correction

Abolition of the domains is Meiji 4, 7th month, 14th day, which is 29 August 1871. It is not July.
Consolidation ran 10 December 1871 to 2 January 1872 (Wikipedia, 廃藩置県, citing 法令全書).

## Events

| Claim | Source | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Saigō-Katsu talks 5-6 April, surrender 3 May | [Senshu chronology](https://www.senshu-u.ac.jp/~off1009/PDF/160820-geppo637%2C638/smr637.pdf) | Good |
| Emperor 15 at the oath | [Meiji Jingu](https://www.meijijingu.or.jp/about/3.php) | Good |
| 1868 visit, return to Kyoto, 1869 residence | [National Archives](https://www.archives.go.jp/exhibition/digital/henbou/contents/08.html) | Good |
| Boshin War end 27 June 1869 | [Hakodate city](https://joruri-cms.city.hakodate.hokkaido.jp/docs/2014011700789/) | Good |
| Return of domains 25 July 1869 | [版籍奉還](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%89%88%E7%B1%8D%E5%A5%89%E9%82%84) | Good |
| Hokkaidō, 11 provinces | [Kushiro chronology](https://www.city.kushiro.lg.jp/_res/projects/default_project/_page_/001/014/301/000017291.pdf) | Good. "September" calculated |
| Tokyo-Yokohama telegraph 26 January 1870 | [Shibusawa company histories](https://shashi.shibusawa.or.jp/details_nenpyo.php?sid=13310&query=&class=&d=all&page=3) | Good |
| Commoner surnames 13 October 1870; compulsory 1875 | [National Archives](https://www.archives.go.jp/naj_news/11/anohi.html), [Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B9%B3%E6%B0%91%E8%8B%97%E5%AD%97%E5%BF%85%E7%A7%B0%E7%BE%A9%E5%8B%99%E4%BB%A4) | Good |
| Chōshū mutiny, about 5,000 cut to 2,250, Kido | [脱隊騒動](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%84%B1%E9%9A%8A%E9%A8%92%E5%8B%95) | Medium, Wikipedia |
| 3 fu 302 ken, 3 fu 72 ken | [廃藩置県](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BB%83%E8%97%A9%E7%BD%AE%E7%9C%8C) | Good |
| Iwakura Mission, 23 December, America, about 100 | [Iwakura Mission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwakura_Mission) | Good |

From memory, not checked in this pass: Toba-Fushimi 27-30 January; larger Tokugawa force; Yoshinobu leaving by sea;
Charter Oath content; Wakamatsu surrender 6 November after a month; Meiji era change in October; emperor's arrival in
November; Enomoto; no decree moving the capital; Goshinpei being the government's first own troops.

## The four

| Claim | Source | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Fukuzawa: Keiō Gijuku, Ueno lecture, refused office, Sekai Kunizukushi, Shinsenza sale, Mita | [Keio](https://www.keio.ac.jp/ja/about/philosophy/fukuzawa/), [Keio Futsubu](https://www.kf.keio.ac.jp/about/yukichi/), [chronology](https://ktymtskz.my.coocan.jp/denki2/ayukiti16.htm) | Good |
| Itō: Hyōgo governor from 12 July 1868, finance, America, New Currency Act, vice-ambassador | [NDL portrait](https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/datas/12), [Kotobank](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%BC%8A%E8%97%A4%E5%8D%9A%E6%96%87-15413) | Good |
| Saigō: Hinatayama, Shōnai, brother's death | [Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E9%83%B7%E9%9A%86%E7%9B%9B) | Medium |
| Saigō: Hakodate a week late, Chōshū visit March 1870, Goshinpei | Wikipedia-derived blog, [MBC](https://blogs.mbc.co.jp/mbcnews/cat_ishin/4503/) | Medium. Check against a printed chronology |
| Tsuda: birth, Ushigome, Sen, Mita, sister refusing, voyage | [Tsuda University](https://www.tsuda.ac.jp/aboutus/history/index.html), [Sakura city](https://www.city.sakura.lg.jp/soshiki/sakuranomiryoku/300/14282.html), [Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B4%A5%E7%94%B0%E6%A2%85%E5%AD%90) | Good |
| Tsuda: Sen's vegetables placed in 1869 | Sources give "afterwards", no year | Weak. Wording kept vague |

## The 1871 map

`ken-1871.csv` maps all 633 counties to 75 prefectures. 617 from the decree list; 6 of those are spelling variants
(巌手, 加美, 河辺, 神埼, 詫麻, 砺波).

- 6 inferred, missing from the list: 大住 and 足柄県; 奄藝 and 安濃津県; 名草 and 和歌山県; 小城 and 伊万里県;
  菊多 and 楢葉 and 平県. All from neighbouring counties or the holding domain, not from a decree.
- 10 split counties use approximate rules in the `rule` column. 宇多, 置賜, 松浦 and the three Hyūga counties go by
  1868 lord; 多摩, 足立, 葛飾 and 牟婁 go by modern boundary.
- 多摩郡: reviewer (Codex) said Kanagawa must be included. Kept as Iruma plus Tokyo: Wikipedia, citing the decree, says the rest of Tama passed
  to Kanagawa the year after, which is later than this map. A Fuchū city history mentions both jurisdictions; not read in detail.
- Exclaves held for a time by far-off prefectures are not shown.
- 高座郡 follows the decree (足柄県), though in practice it went to Kanagawa. 東京 and 神奈川 details moved within months.
- Many names changed within weeks (二本松 to 福島, 平 to 磐前, 一関 to 水沢). The table uses the decree names.

## 1872 to 1878

Added 2026-11-03. Not yet reviewed by a second model.

| Claim | Source | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Railway 14 October 1872, 29 km, 53 minutes | [Minato city](https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/kouhou/kuse/koho/columu/tetsudo/) | Good |
| Ryukyu domain, 16 October 1872 | [廃藩置県](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BB%83%E8%97%A9%E7%BD%AE%E7%9C%8C), [Kotobank](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%90%89%E7%90%83%E8%97%A9-149572) | Good |
| Calendar change | [sakakumo](https://sakakumo.com/chronology/meiji/1872-m05/) | Medium |
| Conscription 10 January 1873 | [sakakumo](https://sakakumo.com/chronology/meiji/1873-m06/) | Medium, widely known |
| Land tax 28 July 1873, 3% | [National Archives](https://www.archives.go.jp/ayumi/kobetsu/m06_1873_03.html) | Good |
| Saigō resigns 23 October 1873; private schools June 1874 | [Kotobank](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%A7%81%E5%AD%A6%E6%A0%A1-72440), [Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E9%83%B7%E9%9A%86%E7%9B%9B) | Good |
| Itō: councillor and public works 25 October 1873; home minister 2 August to 28 November 1874 and from 15 May 1878 | [Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%8A%E8%97%A4%E5%8D%9A%E6%96%87) | Good |
| Tsuda: Washington 29 February 1872, Lanmans, baptism July 1873, 1878 graduation, Archer | [Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B4%A5%E7%94%B0%E6%A2%85%E5%AD%90) | Medium |
| Fukuzawa: Encouragement of Learning February 1872 to November 1875 (some give 1876); Outline August 1875; essay on Saigō 1877, published 1901 | [Kotobank](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%A6%8F%E6%B2%A2%E8%AB%AD%E5%90%89-15113), [Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%96%87%E6%98%8E%E8%AB%96%E4%B9%8B%E6%A6%82%E7%95%A5) | Good |
| Taiwan expedition 1874 | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1874_Japanese_expedition_to_Taiwan) | Good |
| Sword ban 28 March 1876 | [National Archives](https://www.archives.go.jp/ayumi/kobetsu/m09_1876_02.html) | Good |
| Stipend bonds 5 August 1876; Kumamoto, Akizuki, Hagi risings 24 to 28 October | [nihonshi.me](https://nihonshi.me/1876/) | Medium |
| Satsuma war, Tabaruzaka, Shiroyama 24 September 1877, about 14,000 dead | [National Archives](https://www.archives.go.jp/ayumi/kobetsu/m10_1877_01.html), [Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E5%8D%97%E6%88%A6%E4%BA%89) | Good |
| Ōkubo killed 14 May 1878 | [Chiyoda city](https://www.edo-chiyoda.jp/bunkazaihogonotorikumi/bunkazaihogochosain/hogocho2019/1/375.html), [Kotobank](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%B4%80%E5%B0%BE%E4%BA%95%E5%9D%82%E3%81%AE%E5%A4%89-49910) | Good |
| 3 fu 35 ken by 21 August 1876 | [廃藩置県](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BB%83%E8%97%A9%E7%BD%AE%E7%9C%8C) | Good |

From memory, not checked: Itō's San Francisco speech and return for credentials; the caretaker government's reforms; Meiji Six
Society; Saga in February 1874; Treaty of St Petersburg 7 May 1875; Ganghwa September 1875; treaty February 1876 (sources say
26 or 27); Osaka Conference; Mita speech hall; Saigō's farming and hunting; Centennial Exhibition pavilion; Kido's death; his
1889 pardon; Ueno statue; Tsuda's later college; Itō as first prime minister.

`ken-1876.csv` maps the same 633 counties to 3 fu and 35 ken from the 1876 decrees as listed by Wikipedia. Seven counties use
rules (多摩, 武蔵 葛飾 and 足立, 下総 葛飾 and 相馬, 牟婁, 越後 蒲原). Eastern Kanbara, held by Aizu, stays with 若松県 and then 福島県
until 1886, approximated here by the land of the Aizu domain in 蒲原郡.