The New Year’s Day Taika Reform Edict of 646 called for an overhaul of Japanese government. The Taika Reform comprised, in fact, a series of edicts, issued during the Taika era (645–650), that were a major stepping-stone in the development of the Japanese political structure. Japan had been a confederation of elite families or clans, called uji, that did not have a very strong allegiance to the imperial family. After the defeat of one such uji, the Soga, the Taika Reform edicts issued by Emperor Kotoku and Prince Nakano-oe, who would later reign as Emperor Tenchi, were aimed at weakening these uji through adopting a Chinese-style government to strengthen imperial authority by curtailing the independence of the uji, which controlled various regions of Japan. Although edicts were issued in 645 and later, the New Year’s Day Taika Reform Edict is noteworthy in that it served as the basis for future reforms over the next sixty years, ending with the Taiho Code in 702.