Japanese han (domain) that, along with the han of Satsuma , supported the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate (see Tokugawa period ) and the creation of a new government headed by the emperor.
With their superior familiarity with Western weapons, the Satsuma-Chōshū alliance was able to defeat the shogunal forces, bringing the emperor to power in the Meiji Restoration of 1868.