Haihan-chiken (Japanese 廃 藩 置 県) - the abolition of hans (feudal domains) and the establishment of their prefectures (imperial edict on August 29, 1871) as a result of the Meiji Restoration and the abolition of feudalism in Japan.
Between March 2 and August 2, 1869, the daimyō voluntarily turned their rights to their hans into Emperor Meiji, but retained their own military units.
Aritomo Yamagata was the initiator of the final abolition of the han. He believed that providing Japan with adequate protection against interference by Great Britain, USA and Russia, will require the unification of distributed han armies. Yamagata convinced Takamori Saigō to accept the position of commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guards (Goshinpei), established April 17, 1871. Although it counted no more than 10 thousand. The soldiers, in particular, played a very important role in the symbolism of Chōshū and Satsuma's cooperation, whose combined forces, still powered by Tosy's troops, could not resist any other han.
On August 29, 1871, the governors of 56 han, once daimyō, were called before the emperor. The imperial edict about the abolition of the han was read and they were all released from their offices. Within a month, the governors of all the other hans went to the capital to serve the emperor's government with their resignations. The abolished 261 hans were shortly granted the status of prefectures, but after 4 months there was a marshalling of all 305 administrative units, which resulted in 72 prefectures and 3 separated towns. The former daimyō found it pointless to put up any resistance, and the central government took care of providing them with the right material resources so that they could maintain their standard of living. Bibliography
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