Takemoto Hayata was born Takemoto Masenori In the first year of the Kaei period, 1848. The son of Takemoto Yotoki, a Shogunate Bannerman, he was born into the Samurai class of nobles in the feudal Shogunate system in Tokyo. As his father was powerful and he himself was a samurai, they lost everything in the Meiji Restoration. In 1867, upon the restoration of the Emperor to the throne, the Shogunate ended. Over the course of several years, Samurai and Daimyo had their rank, property, income, and elite status revoked by the Emperor.
Many Samurai chose to side with the Emperor, and in Takemoto’s area of Tokyo, these became the Tokyo police. Many others did not go quietly, and revolted. The revolts were quickly squashed by the new Imperial Army, headed by a core of Samurai that were the Tokyo Police. Takemoto refused to fight on either side, and thus, having…