`  == POV ==  This whole article reads like propaganda! The Meiji restoration was more modern than the Tokugawa bakufu in only minor ways. It was also more xenophobic and imperialist, unlike the bakufu which dealt with foreigners and didn't, well, invade other countries (and it wouldn't have, after Korea, it became increasingly more concerned with Japan only). But I would like to know how Ryōma was a visionary who envisioned a Japan without any feudal trappings when he supported a god Emperor and I do not know how he was inspired by the example of the United States where ``all men are created equal`` with a slogan like ‘revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians; it also reads as propaganda of the US which had slaves, segregation and prejudice a lot longer than most civilised nations. Also the article lacks sources.   Look at the more neutral article for Kondo Isami, who was murdered without a fair trial by the anti-bakufu forces.   `