In 1866, the Tokugawa Shogunate was ruling Japan. In the year 1866, two domains, the local government at that time, came together under an alliance. The name of this alliance was the Sat-cho Alliance. This was an alliance between the Satsuma Domain and the Chōshū Domain, and a person named Sakamoto Ryoma brought the two domains together. These two domains supported the Emperor Meiji of Japan who, at the time, did not have much power. With their support the emperor could regain much of his power. 