However, the Meiji Restoration generally includes Taisei-hokan (transfer of power back to the Emperor) and Osei-hukko (the restoration of the Imperial rule) which started in 1867 (according to various academic studies of the Meiji Restoration in Japan, it includes the late Edo Shogunate period (after the Tempo reforms or the Perry Expedition) as the first part of the Restoration, but some political situations prior to the Restoration are mentioned in the article of "Bakumatsu" (the end of the Edo Shogunate)).
しかし一般的にはその前年にあたる1867年（慶応3年）の大政奉還、王政復古以降の改革を指すことが多い（日本の歴史学界における明治維新研究では、前段階である江戸幕府崩壊期（天保の改革あるいは黒船来航以後）も研究対象とされるが、維新体制が整う以前の政治状況については幕末の項で扱うものとする）。