The Choshu violence had elements of class or at least of status conflict、 and yet it was not a contest between upper and lower in any simple sense。 The new administration produced commitment to the loyalist cause、 yet it was also staunchly Choshu centered in values and objectives。 It was nominally antiforeign and exclusionist in its goals。 and yet places of influence were beginning to be found for individuals who knew the West。 Ito Hirobumi、 one of the future leaders of the Meiji state、 symbolized the course of a leadership generation in the shifts of his career: a student of Yoshida Shoin、 then a student。 in England、 an interpreter and translator in the concluding stages of the foreign bombardment of Shimonoseki、 next a commander of a militia company、 and finally a protege and trusted lieutenant of Kido Taka- yoshi、 probably the single most important figure in the new Choshu administration。 Ito was of modest rank and origin。 Responsibility and opportunity sobered judgment、 and information about the outer world。 gradually moderated the extremism of the young warriors。 Yet what seemed to their elders reckless" extremism" had brought them to power within Choshu、 and their pursuit of the bakufu was not likely to be more conciliatory