Shizoku
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The Shizoku (士族 Shizoku?, lit. "warrior families") was a social class merged with former Samurai on 25 July 1869, as part of the Meiji Restoration. It was a class distinct from the Kazoku (a merger the former Kuge and Daimyo classes), and heimin (commoners). Shizokus had no special privileges, so the title of Shizoku was solely on the register. After the Empire of Japan lost World War II, the name Shizoku disappeared under the revised civil code in 1947.
Origins
During the Meiji Restoration, the oligarchs of Japan required Daimyo domains to be abolished. In 1869, the daimyo of Satsuma and Chōshū agreed to make a formal declaration of returning their land and population registers to the emperor, with the understanding that he would then confirm their holdings as governors. The government put all the retainers above the level of foot soldiers into a single category called former samurai (Shizoku, SHE-zo-ku).
