The Shizoku (士族 Shizoku, lit. "warrior families") was a social class merged with former Samurai on 25 July 1869, as part of the Meiji Restoration. It was a class distinct from the Kuge (former Daimyo), and Heiman (commoners). The Shizoku, as former Samurai, retained some of their salaries, but the right to wear a katana in public was eventually abolished along with the right to execute commoners who paid them disrespect. After the Empire of Japan lost World War II, the name Shizoku disappeared under the Japanese Constitution on 1 January 1947.