That's how Japan abolished the samurai. The Meiji emperor promised very generous pensions to all samurai if they turned in their swords and retired. A few yea

That's how Japan abolished the samurai. The Meiji emperor promised very generous pensions to all samurai if they turned in their swords and retired. A few years later, there was a budget crisis and the government cut the pension to a fraction of what was agreed on. But the ex-samurai were too demobilized to overthrow it by then.