Empire of Japan

This article is about the former empire. For the modern state, see Japan.

The Empire of Japan^[c] (Japanese : 大日本帝國) also known as Imperial Japan was a historical Nation State and great power during the period from the Meiji Restoration to the Japanese defeat in World War II. It ruled the Home Islands of Japan and many other areas. The Emperors during this time, were Emperor Meiji (Mutsuhito), from 1868-1912 and Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) from 1912-1926 and Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from 1926-1989. It is considered to go from the year 1868 to 1945. Hirohito was still emperor of Japan after the empire dissolved in 1947. Hirohito was emperor of Japan until his death in 1989.

Empire of Japan 大日本帝國 Dai Nippon Teikoku or Dai Nihon Teikoku
1868–1947
Flag Imperial Seal
Motto:  1868–1912: 五箇条の御誓文 Gokajō no Goseimon (Charter Oath or The Oath in Five Articles)
Anthem: (1869–1945) "Kimigayo" (君が代) "His Imperial Majesty's Reign"[1][2][a] noicon
The Empire of Japan at its peak in 1942:   Japan   Colonies (Korea, Taiwan, Karafuto) / Mandates   Puppet states / Protectorates / Occupied territories
Capital	Kyoto (1868–1869)[3] Tokyo City (1869–1943) Tokyo (1943–1947)
Largest city	Tokyo City (1868–1943) Tokyo (1943–1947)
Official languages	Japanese
Recognised regional languages	Hokkien Mandarin Hakka Korean
Religion	De jure: Secular state De facto: State Shinto (state ideology)[b]
Government	Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy (1889–1947) (de jure)[7] Unitary divine theocratic absolute monarchy (de facto) under Daijō-kan[8] (1868–1885) under a Toseiha military dictatorship (1931–1940) under a fascist Shōwa Statist totalitarian military dictatorship (1940–1945) under military occupation (1945–1947)
Emperor
• 1868–1912	Meiji
• 1912–1926	Taishō
• 1926–1947	Shōwa
Prime Minister
• 1885–1888 (first)	Itō Hirobumi
• 1946–1947 (last)	Shigeru Yoshida
Legislature	None (rule by decree) (1868-1871) House of Peers (1871-1889) Imperial Diet (since 1889)
• Upper house	House of Peers (1889-1947)
• Lower house	House of Representatives (from 1890)
Historical era	Meiji • Taishō • Shōwa
• Meiji Restoration	3 January 1868[9]
• Meiji Constitution	11 February 1889
• First Sino-Japanese War	25 July 1894
• Russo-Japanese War	8 February 1904
• World War I	23 August 1914
• Mukden Incident	18 September 1931
• Second Sino-Japanese War	7 July 1937
• World War II	7 December 1941
• Surrender of Japan	2 September 1945
• Reconstituted	3 May 1947[7]
Area
1938[10]	1,984,000 km2 (766,000 sq mi)
1942[11]	7,400,000 km2 (2,900,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1920	77,700,000a
• 1940	105,200,000b
Currency	Japanese yen Korean yen Taiwanese yen Japanese military currency
Preceded by Succeeded by Tokugawa shogunate Ezo Republic Occupied Japan
56.0 million lived in Japan proper.[12] 73.1 million lived in Japan proper.[12]

Japanese Empire
Japanese name
Kanji	大日本帝国
Hiragana	だいにっぽんていこく だいにほんていこく
Katakana	ダイニッポンテイコク ダイニホンテイコク
Kyūjitai	大日本帝國
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Dai Nippon Teikoku Dai Nihon Teikoku

In those years, Japan changed greatly. It became one of the great powers of the world. Japan built a powerful Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJA and IJN), and changed from an agricultural to an industrial society. The Japanese began to invade and occupy other near countries like Korea, Taiwan, Manchukuo and part of China to get natural resources.

The Empire of Japan surrendered to the Allies on September 2, 1945, after a long war against the Allied nations of World War II ending with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Allies occupied the country and made many changes, including a new constitution. Allied occupation and reconstruction of the country continued well into the 1950s.

Other websites

• Imperial Japan Archived 2007-04-09 at the Wayback Machine
• Death of the Father: Hirohito & Imperial Japan