It is May 1869. The Boshin War has ended. Japan is in the delicate transition from a feudal shogunate to a centralized imperial state. The previous military government, the Tokugawa Shogunate, has collapsed after over 200 years, and now Emperor Meiji has formed a new government. The First Imperial Cabinet includes samurai leaders, feudal lords, and court nobles. The ministers oversee departments including military affairs, finance, foreign affairs, and justice. It will govern a shell-shocked country while leading Japan into a modern state. At the start of 1869, Japan was still divided into semi-autonomous feudal domains ruled by daimyō, but on March 5, 1869, the Imperial government requested the daimyō to surrender their domains to the emperor. In committee, delegates will balance issues of tradition and modernity, unity and resistance, and isolation and Western influence.

As of 1869, Japan’s future is far from secure. The long-reigning Tokugawa Shogunate has dramatically collapsed, and a new imperial government has been formed under the young Emperor Meiji. As the Boshin War comes to a close, rebels continue to threaten the sovereignty of the Emperor and the legitimacy of his new government. The First Imperial Cabinet is composed of samurai leaders, feudal lords, and court nobles. It must govern a divided country while transforming Japan from an insular kingdom into a modern state. Delegates will navigate the challenges of sovereignty, federalism, industrialization, military reform, cultural preservation, and even the role of the emperor himself. In this crisis committee, they will assume the roles of key Meiji-era figures tasked with establishing a new governance system. Every decision made by the cabinet could mean unification or collapse for the emerging country.