Emperor Kōmei (July 22, 1831 – January 30, 1867) is the 121st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.
Kōmei's reign spans the years from 1846 through 1867, corresponding to the final years of the Edo period.
During his reign there is much internal turmoil as a result of Japan's first major contact with the United States, which occurs under Commodore Perry in 1853 and 1854, and the subsequent forced re-opening of Japan to western nations, ending a two hundred and twenty-year period of national seclusion.
Emperor Kōmei does not care much for anything foreign, and he opposes opening Japan to Western powers.
His reign will continue to be dominated by insurrection and partisan conflicts eventually culminating in the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate shortly after his death and the Meiji Restoration in the beginning of the reign of his son and successor Emperor Meiji.
