alternatehistory.com

By the time of the Meiji Restoration Japan had had two capitals for centuries. Kyoto, the official, formal capital of the Emperor, and Edo (remained Tokyo) the true capital of the Tokugawa Shoguns. Now after the restoration the Meiji Emperor and the Imperial Court moved to Tokyo, making the city the de jure as well as de facto Capital. So what if the Emperor didn't move the capital to Edo and instead stayed in Kyoto, moving the administrative organs of the old shogunate government to the old Capital? Would this change anything, other then Kyoto being the capital bombed in WWII? Would the Kuge (Nobility attached to the Imperial Court rather than the Shogunate) regain more of their lost authority if the capital was in their power base? Would such a move (or rather lack of a move) of keeping the capital in Kyoto anger the daimyo who brought about the restoration? Would it cause Japan to be set back in its rapid modernization?
Top