Today, July 14th, is "Abolition of the Han System Day" and "Perry Landing Memorial Day," famous for the Black Ships!! It is said to be "Bastille Day" in France.

Abolished domains and established prefectures

Certificate

Imperial Rescript on the Abolition of Domains and Establishment of Prefectures

was issued on July 14 of the 4th year of Meiji, leading to the establishment of a commemorative day.

New calendar date: August 29, 1871

Although the domains of the Edo period were formally abolished through the return of lands and registers in 1869 (2nd year of Meiji),

Historian

Historian

it was merely a change of name from "domain" to "prefecture,"

and the former domain lords remained as governors,

Samurai

with most territories still under the same domain-era control.

Therefore, to reform the old domain system, the Meiji government took the lead in enforcing the abolition of domains and establishment of prefectures.

As a new policy,

Certificate

the central government dispatched prefectural governors to each prefecture,

thereby abolishing the previous policy of domain lords governing their territories.

Historian

This led to the aim of establishing a centralized state, the first since the Taiho Code issued in 701 (1st year of Taiho).

Thereafter, through the first and second rounds of prefectural mergers, Japan was reorganized into a structure close to the current 1 circuit, 1 metropolis, 2 prefectures, and 43 prefectures.

As Japanese commemorative days, the following have also been established:

Himawari Day: Originating from the launch of Japan's first geostationary meteorological satellite "Himawari 1" in 1977...

Quarantine Memorial Day: Commemorating the proclamation of Japan's first temporary cholera prevention regulations on this day in 1879.

Jelly Day / Gelatin Day: Set on the same day as Bastille Day, since gelatin is widely used in French cuisine.

Endoscopy Day: Established based on the wordplay "na (7) i (1) shi (4) kyo".

(50% quoted, source: Google)