Bakumatsu

Bakumatsu (幕末, bakumatsu?, "Late Tokugawa Shogunate"), literally "end of the curtain", are the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate came to an end. It is characterized by major events occurring between 1853 and 1867 during which Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as sakoku and transitioned from a feudal shogunate to the Meiji government. The major ideological/political divide during this period was between the pro-imperialist ishin shishi (nationalist patriots) and the shogunate forces, including the elite Shinsengumi (newly selected corps) swordsmen.