The decline of the samurai came in the late nineteenth century as Japan opened its borders to the US navy and the power was given back to the imperial family in the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Samurai became known as shizoku, a term which represented their former samurai status, they were no longer allowed to wear a katana in public, and the samurai class was abolished in favour of a western-style national army, as a result many of the samurai became highly motivated to become reporters, writers or to serve in government.