general of the satsuma army
As soon as Saigo Takamori took control of the Satsuman army located in Kyoto, a riot instigated by a rival domain, Choshu, resulted in the Aizu and Satsuma Domains to defend the Imperial Palace. Although the alliance between the Domains allowed the Imperial Palace to be preserved, just three years later the Shogun actually retired from his position, which meant that the power was given back to the Emperor resulting in the Meiji Restoration all together. Takamori was very mad about the decision and demanded that the Tokugawa family be stripped of their lands and status. He was satisfied however just a few years later when the Boshin war occurred with Takamori leading the imperial forces to victory with the Surrender of the Edo Castle.
appointee of the Government
After the Boshin War, much work was put into the new government in order to make it a successful one. Unlike most other people, Takamori was a competent man both in social and military aspects of life. As a result, he was in charge of getting rid of the han system and instigating a centralized government authority rather than individualistic authority of the daimyos. He was also in charge of creating a conscript army worthy of the new government.
meiji RESTORATION acheivements
During the Meiji Restoration, Takamori accomplished several things. One of the first notable things he did was the opposition of a railroad network claiming that the money could've been used to modernize the Japanese Army. Another was that he wanted to declare war on Korea in the debate of 1873 as the Koreans were criticizing the legitimacy of Emperor Meiji as the ruler. When the debate ended with no war, Takamori resigned from all office positions in protest against the decision and he returned to his hometown Kagoshima.