1853: A fleet of ships headed by Commodore Matthew Perry arrives in Japan on July 8; considered by German Japanologist Johannes Justus Rein and described by Francis L. Hawks and Commodore Matthew Perry in their 1856 work
1854–55: Treaties are signed with the United States by the Bakufu
1850s–1860s: The "Sonnō jōi" movement is in full force.
1858: The Bakufu sign treaties with the Netherlands, Imperial Russia, and Great Britain.
March 1860: The Tairo, Ii Naosuke, is assassinated in the Sakuradamon incident.
November 11: Sachinomiya is formally proclaimed Crown Prince and given the personal name Mutsuhito.
1862: Namamugi Incident
1864–65: Bombardment of Shimonoseki by British, American, French, and Dutch ships; fighting ensues between the shogunate and Chōshū.
1866: Death of the Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi on August 29; appointment of Tokugawa Yoshinobu as Shogun.
January 31, 1867: Death of Emperor Komei from hemorrhagic smallpox, unofficial accession of Mutsuhito to the throne.
January 4, 1868: Formal restoration of imperial rule; end of 265 years of rule by the Tokugawa Shogunate
September 12: Formal coronation of the emperor.
October 23: The nengo is changed to Meiji.
November 6: The capital is moved from Kyoto to Edo, renamed Tokyo.
November 5, 1872: The Meiji Emperor receives The Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia late 1860s–1881: Period of rebellion and assassination in Japan.
January 11, 1869: Marriage of the emperor to Ichijo Haruko,