End of Tokugawa
The Tokugawa Era of Japan ended on this day in 1868 when the 15th and final shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837 - 1913), surrendered Edo Castle to Imperial forces. If the city was not currently ordered to stay at home due to the danger of the infectious novel coronavirus, it might be a good day to visit the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda Ward in central Tokyo, near Tokyo Station. I was last there one year ago.
For his service to Japan, in 1902, the Meiji Emperor made him a prince and gave him a seat in the House of Peers, the Upper House of the Japanese parliament (the National Diet) from 1868-1947. One of his daughters and one of his granddaughters married into the royal family.
The Tokugawa family still exists, of course. They are centred in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo. The current head of the family is 80-year-old Tsunenari Tokugawa. Family members these days typically are wealthy executives of large corporations.
I actually got to meet the family on Saturday, November 24, 2012 at a luxury hotel in central Tokyo. I don't mean that I merely saw them. I mean I was standing in front of the entire family for 25-minutes performing a certain function.