In the beginning the court nobles and the former feudal lords had the power in the new government, gradually a group of people such as Sanetomi SANJO, Tomomi IWAKURA, Takayoshi KIDO, Toshimichi OKUBO started having a voice in politics, and one of the reason for this was the moving of the Imperial Palace to Tokyo.
当初、新政府内では公家や旧大名が中心を占めていたが、東京へ遷ったことも一つのきっかけとして、次第に三条実美、岩倉具視、木戸孝允、大久保利通らの発言権が大きくなっていった。