Empire of Japan 大日本帝國 Dai Nippon Teikoku or Dai Nihon Teikoku
1868–1947
Motto:
Anthem:
The Empire of Japan at its peak in 1942:      Japan      Colonies (Korea, Taiwan, Karafuto) / Mandates      Puppet states / Protectorates / Occupied territories
Capital	Kyoto (1868–1869) Tokyo City (1869–1943) Tokyo (1943–1947)
Official languages	Japanese
Religion	De jure: Secular state De facto: State Shinto (state ideology)
Government	Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy (1889–1947) (de jure) Unitary divine theocratic absolute monarchy (de facto) under Daijō-kan (1868–1885) under a Toseiha military dictatorship (1931–1940) under a Shōwa Statist one-party 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
•	3 January 1868
• 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
•	3 May 1947
Area
1938	Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1850: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
1942	Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1850: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
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. 73.1 million lived in Japan proper.

History of Japan
Tokyo Industrial Exhibition, 1907
Periods Paleolithic before 14,000 BC Jōmon 14,000 – 300 BC Yayoi 300 BC – 300 AD Kofun 300–538 Asuka 538–710 Nara 710–794 Heian 794–1185 Kamakura 1185–1333 Kenmu Restoration 1333–1336 Muromachi (Ashikaga) Nanboku-chō Sengoku 1336–1573 Azuchi–Momoyama Nanban trade 1573–1603 Edo (Tokugawa) Sakoku Convention of Kanagawa Bakumatsu 1603–1868 Meiji Boshin War Restoration First Sino-Japanese War Boxer Rebellion Russo-Japanese War 1868–1912 Taishō World War I 1912–1926 Shōwa Financial crisis Militarism World War II Occupation Economic miracle Post-occupation Bubble economy 1926–1989 Heisei Lost Decade Great Hanshin earthquake Great East Japan earthquake Imperial transition 1989–2019 (planned) Reiwa 2019 (planned)
Topics Currency Earthquakes Economy Education Empire Historiography Military Naval Post-war
Glossary Timeline

The Empire of Japan (Japanese : 大日本帝國) (Manchu Standard Chinese : 大日本帝国) (Korean : 일본제국) (Russian : Японская Империя) 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 .