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, 18:17, 15 April 2007
*Sakamoto's 8 Point Plan for Imperial Restoration and Governance
Although [[Sakamoto Ryoma]] brokered the military alliance between [[Choshu]] and [[Satsuma]], he hoped that force would be a last resort. To help try to bring about the Imperial restoration by peaceful means, Sakamoto drafted an eight point plan that he shared with [[Goto Shojiro|Gotô Shôjirô]] who then presented it in a memorial to [[Yamauchi Yodo|Yôdô]], leader of Tosa han. Sakamoto’s plan was as follows:
# Political power should be restored to the Imperial Court and all decrees should be issued by the Court.
# Both upper and lower legislative houses should be created and government policies should be decided by this legislative body.
# "Men of ability" from the former daimyô, nobles and general population should be appointed councilors. Traditional posts of power that existed under the baku-han system should be abolished.
# Foreign affairs should be conducted in accordance with regulations agreed upon on the basis of general consensus.
# Rules and regulations created during Japan’s feudal days should be abolished and a new, modern legal code should be created.
# Naval forces should be enlarged.
# An Imperial Guard should be established for the purpose of defending the capital.
# The value of goods and silver should be aligned with the going rates in foreign countries.
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]