The nascent Meiji state required a new military command for its operations against the shogunate. Western domains that had either supported the shogunate or remained neutral also quickly announced their support of the restoration movement. With the court in Kyoto firmly behind the Satsuma-Chōshū-Tosa coalition, other domains that were sympathetic to the cause-such as Tottori ( Inaba), Aki ( Hiroshima), and Hizen ( Saga)-emerged to take a more active role in military operations. The encounter at Toba–Fushimi between the imperial and shogunate forces marked the beginning of the conflict. Yoshinobu and his closest advisors left for Edo by ship. The bafuku forces eventually retreated to Osaka, with the remaining forces ordered to retreat to Edo. On the second day, an Imperial banner was given to the defending troops and a relative of the Emperor, Ninnajinomiya Yoshiaki, was named nominal commander in chief, in effect making the pro-imperial forces officially an Imperial army. At the two road junctions of Toba and Fushimi just south of Kyoto, the two forces clashed. They were opposed by 5,000 troops from the Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa domains. On 27 January 1868, tensions between the shogunate and imperial sides came to a head when Tokugawa Yoshinobu marched on Kyoto, accompanied by a 15,000-strong force, some of which had been trained by French military advisers. Ukiyo-E, depicting the retreat of shogunate forces in front of the Imperial Army ( Kangun). The domains of Satsuma and Chōshū came to dominate the coalition against the shogunate. The opening of the country after two centuries of seclusion subsequently led to the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War in 1868. The bakufu army, although a large force, was only one among others, and bakufu efforts to control the nation depended upon the cooperation of its vassals' armies. In the mid-19th century, Japan had no unified national army and the country was made up of feudal domains ( han) with the Tokugawa shogunate ( bakufu) in overall control, which had ruled Japan since 1603.

1.3 Further development and modernization (1873–1894).

1.2.1 Establishment of the Imperial Guard and institutional reforms.

1.2 Foundation of a national army (1871–1873).

1.1.2 Struggles to form a centralized army.

Imperial japanese army ranks