View source for Empire of Japan

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{{Short description|Country in East Asia}}
{{Redirect|The Japanese Empire|the relationship between Japan and its colonies|Japanese colonial empire|the book by Sarah C. Paine|The Japanese Empire (book){{!}}''The Japanese Empire'' (book)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox former country
| native_name            = {{ubl|{{native name|ja|大日本帝國|italics=off|paren=omit}}|''Dai Nippon Teikoku'' or <br>''Dai Nihon Teikoku''}}
| conventional_long_name = Empire of Japan
| common_name            = Japan
| era                    = [[Meiji period|Meiji]]{{*}}[[Taishō period|Taishō]]{{*}}[[Shōwa period|Shōwa]]
| life_span              = 1868–1947
| year_start             = 1868<ref>{{harvnb|Jansen|2002|p=334}}, "One can date the "restoration" of imperial rule from the edict of January 3, 1868."</ref>
| year_end               = 1947<ref name=ndlconstitution/>
| date_start             = 3 January
| date_end               = 3 May
| event_start            = [[Meiji Restoration]]
| event_end              = [[Constitution of Japan|Reconstituted]]
| event1                 = [[Meiji Constitution]]
| date_event1            = 11 February 1889
| event2                 = [[First Sino-Japanese War]]
| date_event2            = 25 July 1894
| event3                 = [[Russo-Japanese War]]
| date_event3            = 8 February 1904
| event4                 = [[World War I]]
| date_event4            = 23 August 1914
| event5                 = [[Mukden Incident]]
| date_event5            = 18 September 1931
| event6                 = [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
| date_event6            = 7 July 1937
| event7                 = [[Imperial Rule Assistance Association|Founding of the IRAA]]
| date_event7            = 12 October 1940
| event8                 = [[World War II]]
| date_event8            = 7 December 1941
| event9                 = [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|Surrender of Japan]]
| date_event9            = 2 September 1945
| iso3166code            = omit
| image_flag             = Flag of Japan (1870–1999).svg
| flag_type_article      = Flag of Japan
| image_coat             = Imperial Seal of Japan.svg
| symbol_type            = Imperial Seal
| symbol_type_article    = Imperial Seal of Japan
| p1                     = Tokugawa shogunate
| flag_p1                = Flag of the Tokugawa Shogunate.svg
| p2                     = Republic of Ezo
| flag_p2                = Seal of Ezo.svg
| s1                     = Occupation of Japan{{!}}Occupied Japan
| flag_s1                = Flag of Allied Occupied Japan.svg
| border_s1              = no
| flag_s2                = Flag of Japan.svg
| s2                     = Japan
| status                 = [[Sovereign state]] (1868−1945)<br />[[Occupation of Japan|Military occupation]] (1945–1947)
| image_map              = Japanese Empire (orthographic projection).svg
| image_map_caption      = The Empire of Japan at its peak in 1942:
{{plainlist | style = padding-center: 0.6em; text-align: center; |
* {{Legend|#145A37|[[Japan]]}}
* {{Legend|#148237|Colonies ([[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]], [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan]], [[Karafuto Prefecture|Karafuto]]) / [[South Seas Mandate|Mandates]]}}
* {{Legend|#5FAF5F|[[Puppet state#Imperial Japan|Puppet states]] / [[Protectorate#Japan|Protectorates]] / [[List of territories occupied by Imperial Japan|Occupied territories]]}}
}}
| national_anthem        = <br/>(1869–1945)<br />君が代<br/>''[[Kimigayo]]''<br/>"His Imperial Majesty's Reign"<br/><ref>{{cite web |title=Explore Japan National Flag and National Anthem |url=http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/national/index.html |accessdate=January 29, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=National Symbols |url=http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2270.html |accessdate=January 29, 2017 |url-status=dead |archivedate=February 2, 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202040038/http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2270.html}}</ref>{{efn |Modified version used in 1880–1945.}}<br/>[[File:Kimi ga Yo 1930.ogg|noicon|center]]
| national_motto         = <br/>(1868–1912)<br />[[Meiji era|五箇条の御誓文]]<br />''Gokajō no Goseimon''<br />"[[Charter Oath|The Oath in Five Articles]]"
| capital                = {{plainlist|
*[[Kyoto]] (1868–1869)<ref>{{Cite book |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781884964046 |title=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania |date=1996 |editor=Schellinger and Salkin |location=UK |chapter=Kyoto |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vWLRxJEU49EC&pg=PA515 |page=515ff}}</ref>
*[[Tokyo City]] (1869–1943)
*[[Tokyo]] (1943–1947)}}
| largest_city           = {{plainlist|
*Tokyo City (1868–1943)
*Tokyo (1943–1947)}}
| religion               = {{plainlist|
*''[[De jure]]:'' [[Secular state]]
*''[[De facto]]:'' [[State Shinto]] ([[state religion|state ideology]]){{efn|Although the Empire of Japan officially had no state religion,<ref>{{cite book |last=Josephson |first=Jason Ānanda |title=The Invention of Religion in Japan |year=2012 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0226412344 |page=133}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |type=Ph.D. |first=Jolyon Baraka |last=Thomas |title=Japan's Preoccupation with Religious Freedom |publisher=Princeton University |year=2014 |page=76 |url=http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01xp68kg357}}</ref> [[Shinto]] played an important part for the Japanese state. [[Marius Jansen]] states: "The Meiji government had from the first incorporated, and in a sense created, Shinto, and utilized its tales of the divine origin of the ruling house as the core of its ritual addressed to ancestors 'of ages past'. As the Japanese empire grew the affirmation of a divine mission for the Japanese race was emphasized more strongly. Shinto was imposed on colonial lands in Taiwan and Korea, and public funds were utilized to build and maintain new shrines there. Shinto priests were attached to army units as chaplains, and the cult of war dead, enshrined at the [[Yasukuni Jinja]] in Tokyo, took on ever greater proportions as their number grew."{{sfn|Jansen|2002|p=669}}}}}}
| official_languages     = [[Japanese language|Japanese]]
| regional_languages     = {{plainlist|
*[[Taiwanese Hokkien|Hokkien]]
*[[Taiwanese Mandarin|Mandarin]]
*[[Taiwanese Hakka|Hakka]]
*[[Korean language|Korean]]}}
| government_type        = <!--- Don't mention [[theocracy]] or [[divine monarchy]] in this page! --->[[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[absolute monarchy]]<br />(1868–1889){{sfn|Hunter|1984|pp=31–32}}
: under [[Daijō-kan]]{{sfn|Hunter|1984|pp=31–32}}<br />(1868–1885)
[[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[semi-constitutional monarchy]]<br />(1889–1947)<ref name=ndlconstitution>{{cite web |title=Chronological table 5 December 1, 1946 – June 23, 1947 |publisher=[[National Diet Library]] |url=http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/etc/history05.html |access-date = September 30, 2010}}</ref>
: under [[Allied occupation of Japan|military occupation]]<br /> (1945–1947)
| title_leader           = [[List of Emperors of Japan#Emperors of Japan|Emperor]]
| leader1                = [[Emperor Meiji|Meiji]]
| year_leader1           = 1868–1912
| leader2                = [[Emperor Taishō|Taishō]]
| year_leader2           = 1912–1926
| leader3                = [[Hirohito|Shōwa]]
| year_leader3           = 1926–1947
| title_deputy           = [[List of Prime Ministers of Japan#Empire of Japan (1868–1947)|Prime Minister]]
| deputy1                = [[Itō Hirobumi]]
| year_deputy1           = 1885–1888 (first)
| deputy2                = [[Shigeru Yoshida]]
| year_deputy2           = 1946–1947 (last)
| legislature            = None ([[rule by decree]]) (1868–1871)<br>[[House of Peers (Japan)|House of Peers]] (1871–1889)<br>[[National Diet#History|Imperial Diet]] (since 1889)
| house1                 = [[House of Peers (Japan)|House of Peers]] (1889–1947)
| house2                 = [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]] (from 1890)
| stat_year1             = 1938<ref name=Harrison3>{{cite book |last1=Harrison |first1=Mark |title=The Economics of World War II: Six Great Powers in International Comparison |date=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521785037 |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgFu2p5uogwC |access-date=October 2, 2016}}</ref>
| stat_area1             = 1984000<!-- {{Formatnum:{{#expr:(382+1602)*1000}}}} -->
| stat_year2             = 1920
| stat_year3             = 1940
| stat_pop2              = 77,700,000<ref name=JSTOR>{{Cite journal |last1=Taeuber |first1=Irene B. |last2=Beal |first2=Edwin G. |jstor=1025496 |title=The Demographic Heritage of the Japanese Empire |journal=[[Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |volume=237 |page=65 |date=January 1945 |doi=10.1177/000271624523700108 |s2cid=144547927 |issn = 0002-7162}}</ref><sup>a</sup>
| stat_pop3              = 105,200,000<ref name=JSTOR>{{Cite journal |last1=Taeuber |first1=Irene B. |last2=Beal |first2=Edwin G. |jstor=1025496 |title=The Demographic Heritage of the Japanese Empire |journal=[[Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |volume=237 |page=65 |date=January 1945 |doi=10.1177/000271624523700108 |s2cid=144547927 |issn = 0002-7162}}</ref><sup>b</sup>
| currency               = {{plainlist|
*[[Japanese yen]]
*[[Korean yen]]
*[[Taiwanese yen]]}}
| footnote_a             = 56.0 million lived in the ''naichi''.<ref name=JSTOR>{{Cite journal |last1=Taeuber |first1=Irene B. |last2=Beal |first2=Edwin G. |jstor=1025496 |title=The Demographic Heritage of the Japanese Empire |journal=[[Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |volume=237 |page=65 |date=January 1945 |doi=10.1177/000271624523700108 |s2cid=144547927 |issn = 0002-7162}}</ref>
| footnote_b             = 73.1 million lived in the ''naichi''.<ref name=JSTOR/>
| stat_area4             = 7400000
| stat_year4             = 1942
| ref_area4              = <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Conrad |first=Sebastian |date=2014 |title=The Dialectics of Remembrance: Memories of Empire in Cold War Japan |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/199424523.pdf |url-status=live |journal=[[Comparative Studies in Society and History]] |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=8 |doi=10.1017/S0010417513000601 |issn=0010-4175 |jstor=43908281 |s2cid=146284542 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708000924/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/199424523.pdf |archive-date=2020-07-08 |access-date=2020-07-07 |quote=In 1942, at the moment of its greatest extension, the empire encompassed territories spanning over 7,400,000 square kilometers.}}</ref>
}}
{{History of Japan |topics |image=Tokyo Industrial Exhibition.JPG |caption=Tokyo Industrial Exhibition, 1907}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| title = Japanese Empire
| katakana = ダイニッポンテイコク<br>ダイニホンテイコク
| hiragana = だいにっぽんていこく<br>だいにほんていこく
| kyujitai = {{lang|ja|大日本帝國}}
| shinjitai = {{lang|ja|大日本帝国}}
| romaji = ''Dai Nippon Teikoku''<br>''Dai Nihon Teikoku''
| lang1 = Official Term
| lang1_content = Japanese Empire
| lang2 = Literal Translation
| lang2_content = Imperial State of Greater Japan or the Great Japanese Empire
| ibox-order = 
}}
The '''Empire of Japan''',{{efn|{{langx|ja|大日本帝国}}, {{transliteration|ja|Dai Nippon Teikoku}} or {{transliteration|ja|
Dai Nihon Teikoku}}}} also known as the '''Japanese Empire''' or '''Imperial Japan''', was the Japanese [[nation-state]]{{efn|group=nb|"During the second half of the nineteenth century, Japan's nation-builders forged the [[Meiji period|Meiji]] nation-state out of an older, heterogeneous [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] realm, integrating semi-autonomous domain states into a unified political community."{{sfn|Tsutsui|2009|p=234}} "Rather than restore an ancient (and probably imaginary) center-periphery order, the Meiji Restoration hastened the creation of a new and unambiguously centralized and modern nation-state. Within a few decades of the official beginning of the nation-building project, Tokyo had become the political and economic capital of a state that replaced semi-autonomous domains with newly created prefectures subordinate to central laws and centrally appointed administrators."{{sfn|Tsutsui|2009|p=433}}}} that existed from the [[Meiji Restoration]] on 3 January 1868 until the [[Constitution of Japan]] took effect on 3 May 1947.<ref name="ndlconstitution" /> From [[Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910|1910]] to [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|1945]], it included the [[Japanese archipelago]], the [[Kuril Islands|Kurils]], [[Karafuto Prefecture|Karafuto]], [[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]], and [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan]]. [[Foreign concessions in China#List of concessions|Concessions]] such as the [[Kwantung Leased Territory]] were ''[[de jure]]'' not parts of the empire but dependent territories. In the closing stages of [[World War II]], with Japan defeated alongside the rest of the [[Axis powers]], the formalized [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender]] was issued on 2 September 1945 in compliance with the [[Potsdam Declaration]] of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]], and the empire's territory subsequently shrunk to cover only the Japanese archipelago resembling modern Japan.

Under the slogans of {{nihongo foot|''[[fukoku kyōhei]]''|富国強兵||"Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Armed Forces"|group=lower-alpha}} and {{nihongo foot|''shokusan kōgyō'',|殖産興業||"Promote Industry"|group=lower-alpha}} which followed the [[Boshin War]] and the restoration of power to the [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]] from the [[Shogun]], Japan underwent a [[Meiji era|period of large-scale industrialization and militarization]], often regarded as the fastest modernization of any country to date. All of these aspects contributed to Japan's emergence as a great power following the [[First Sino-Japanese War]], the [[Boxer Rebellion]], the [[Russo-Japanese War]], and [[World War I]]. Economic and political turmoil in the 1920s, including the [[Great Depression]], led to the rise of [[Japanese militarism|militarism]], [[Japanese nationalism|nationalism]], [[Statism in Shōwa Japan|statism]] and authoritarianism, and this ideological shift eventually culminated in Japan joining the Axis alliance with [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]], and also conquering a large part of the [[Asia-Pacific]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/japan_quest_empire_01.shtml |title=Japan's Quest for Empire 1931–1945 |last=Townsend |first=Susan |date=July 17, 2018 |website=BBC}}</ref> During this period, the Japanese army committed many atrocities, including the [[Nanjing Massacre]]. However, there has been a debate over defining the political system of Japan as a [[dictatorship]].<ref name="sjlee">Stephen J. Lee. ''European Dictatorships 1918-1945''. 4th edition, 2016. p. 364: "There has also been some debate as to whether Japan was even a ‘dictatorship’."</ref>

The [[Imperial Japanese Armed Forces]] initially achieved large-scale military successes during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] and the [[Pacific War]]. However, from 1942 onwards, and particularly after decisive Allied advances at [[Battle of Midway|Midway Atoll]] and [[Guadalcanal campaign|Guadalcanal]], Japan was forced to adopt a defensive stance against the [[United States]]. The American-led [[Leapfrogging (strategy)|island-hopping campaign]] led to the eventual loss of many of Japan's Oceanian island possessions in the following three years. Eventually, the American military captured [[Iwo Jima]] and [[Okinawa Island]], leaving the Japanese mainland unprotected and without a significant naval defense force. By August 1945, plans had been made for an [[Operation Downfall|Allied invasion of mainland Japan]], but were shelved after Japan surrendered in the face of a major breakthrough by the Western Allies and the [[Soviet Union]], with the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] and the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria]]. The Pacific War officially came to an end on 2 September 1945, leading to the beginning of the [[Occupation of Japan|Allied occupation of Japan]], during which United States military leader [[Douglas MacArthur]] administered the country. In 1947, through Allied efforts, a new Japan's constitution was enacted, officially ending the Japanese Empire and forming modern [[Japan]]. During this time, the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces were dissolved. It was later replaced by the current [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]] in 1954. Reconstruction under the Allied occupation continued until 1952, consolidating the modern [[Postwar Japan|Japanese constitutional monarchy]].

In total, the Empire of Japan had three emperors: [[Emperor Meiji|Meiji]], [[Emperor Taishō|Taishō]], and [[Hirohito|Shōwa]]. The Imperial era came to an end partway through [[Shōwa era|Shōwa's reign]], and he remained emperor until 1989.

==Terminology==
The historical state is frequently referred to as the "Empire of Japan", the "Japanese Empire", or "Imperial Japan" in English. In Japanese it is referred to as {{Nihongo|''Dai Nippon Teikoku''|大日本帝國}},<ref name="Shillony">{{cite book |title=Ben-Ami Shillony – Collected Writings |first=Ben-Ami |last=Shillony |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1134252305 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jQoNuRfzqNMC&pg=PA83 |page=83}}</ref> which translates to "Empire of Great Japan" ({{lang|ja-Latn|[[wikt:大#Japanese|Dai]]}} "Great", {{lang|ja-Latn|[[wikt:日本#Japanese|Nippon]]}} "Japanese", {{lang|ja-Latn|[[wikt:帝国#Japanese|Teikoku]]}} "Empire"). ''Teikoku'' is itself composed of the nouns {{lang|ja-Latn|[[wikt:帝#Japanese|Tei]]}} "referring to an emperor" and {{lang|ja-Latn|[[wikt:国#Japanese|-koku]]}} "nation, state", literally "Imperial State" or "Imperial Realm" (compare the [[German language|German]] ''[[German Empire|Kaiserreich]]''). The name "Empire of Japan" appeared for the first time in the 1854 [[Convention of Kanagawa]] between the [[United States]] and the Japanese [[Tokugawa shogunate]]. 

This meaning is significant in terms of geography, encompassing Japan, and its surrounding areas. The nomenclature ''Empire of Japan'' had existed since the anti-Tokugawa domains, [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]] and [[Chōshū Domain|Chōshū]], which founded their new government during the [[Meiji Restoration]], with the intention of forming a modern state to resist [[Western world|Western]] domination. Later the Empire emerged as a [[great power]] in the world.

Due to its name in ''[[kanji]]'' characters and its flag, it was also given the [[exonym]]s "Empire of the Sun" and "Empire of the Rising Sun".

==History==

===Background===
{{Main|Bakumatsu}}

After two centuries, the seclusion policy, or ''[[sakoku]]'', under the ''[[shōgun]]s'' of the [[Edo period]] came to an end when the country was forced open to trade by the [[Convention of Kanagawa]] which came when [[Matthew C. Perry]] arrived in Japan in 1854. Thus, the period known as [[Bakumatsu]] began.

The following years saw increased foreign trade and interaction; commercial treaties between the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] and Western countries were signed. In large part due to the humiliating terms of these [[unequal treaties]], the shogunate soon faced internal hostility, which materialized into a radical, [[xenophobic]] movement, the ''[[sonnō jōi]]'' (literally "Revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians").{{sfn|Hagiwara|2004|p=34}}

In March 1863, the Emperor issued the "[[order to expel barbarians]]." Although the shogunate had no intention of enforcing the order, it nevertheless inspired attacks against the shogunate itself and against foreigners in Japan. The [[Namamugi Incident]] during 1862 led to the murder of an Englishman, [[Charles Lennox Richardson]], by a party of [[samurai]] from [[Satsuma Province|Satsuma]]. The British demanded reparations but were denied. While attempting to exact payment, the [[Royal Navy]] was fired on from coastal batteries near the town of [[Kagoshima]]. They responded by [[Bombardment of Kagoshima|bombarding the port of Kagoshima]] in 1863. The Tokugawa government agreed to pay an indemnity for Richardson's death.{{sfn|Jansen|2002|pp=314–315}} Shelling of foreign shipping in [[Shimonoseki]] and attacks against foreign property led to the [[bombardment of Shimonoseki]] by a multinational force in 1864.{{sfn|Hagiwara|2004|p=35}} The Chōshū clan also launched the failed coup known as the [[Kinmon incident]]. The [[Satchō Alliance|Satsuma-Chōshū alliance]] was established in 1866 to combine their efforts to overthrow the Tokugawa ''bakufu''. In early 1867, [[Emperor Kōmei]] died of smallpox and was replaced by his son, [[Emperor Meiji|Crown Prince Mutsuhito (Meiji)]].

On November 9, 1867, [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] resigned from his post and authorities to the emperor, agreeing to "be the instrument for carrying out" imperial orders,{{sfn|Satow|1921|p=282}} leading to the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.{{sfn|Keene|2002|p=116}}{{sfn|Jansen|2002|pp=310–311}} However, while Yoshinobu's resignation had created a nominal void at the highest level of government, his apparatus of state continued to exist. Moreover, the shogunal government, the Tokugawa family in particular, remained a prominent force in the evolving political order and retained many executive powers,<ref>{{harvnb|Keene|2002|pp=120–121}}, and {{harvnb|Satow|1921|p=283}}. Moreover, {{harvtxt|Satow|1921|p=285}} speculates that Yoshinobu had agreed to an assembly of ''daimyōs'' in the hope that such a body would reinstate him.</ref> a prospect hard-liners from Satsuma and Chōshū found intolerable.{{sfn|Satow|1921|p=286}}

On January 3, 1868, Satsuma-Chōshū forces seized the [[Kyoto Imperial Palace|imperial palace]] in [[Kyoto]], and the following day had the fifteen-year-old Emperor Meiji declare his own restoration to full power. Although the majority of the imperial consultative assembly was happy with the formal declaration of direct rule by the court and tended to support a continued collaboration with the Tokugawa, [[Saigō Takamori]], leader of the Satsuma clan, threatened the assembly into abolishing the title ''shōgun'' and ordered the confiscation of Yoshinobu's lands.{{efn|1=During a recess, Saigō, who had his troops outside, "remarked that it would take only one short sword to settle the discussion".<ref>{{harvnb|Keene|2002|p=122}}. Original quotation (Japanese): "短刀一本あればかたづくことだ." in {{harvnb|Hagiwara|2004|p=42}}.</ref> The word used for "dagger" was ''tantō''.}}

On January 17, 1868, Yoshinobu declared "that he would not be bound by the proclamation of the Restoration and called on the court to rescind it".<!-- Why is this quoted? -->{{sfn|Keene|2002|p=124}} On January 24, Yoshinobu decided to prepare an attack on Kyoto, occupied by Satsuma and Chōshū forces. This decision was prompted by his learning of a series of [[arson]] attacks in Edo, starting with the burning of the outworks of [[Edo Castle]], the main Tokugawa residence.

====Boshin War====
{{Main|Boshin War}}
[[File:Naval Battle of Hakodate.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Naval Battle of Hakodate]], May 1869; in the foreground, {{ship|Japanese warship|Kasuga||2}} and {{ship|Japanese ironclad|Kōtetsu||2}} of the Imperial Japanese Navy]]

The {{nihongo|Boshin War|戊辰戦争|Boshin Sensō}} was fought between January 1868 and May 1869. The alliance of samurai from southern and western domains and court officials had now secured the cooperation of the young Emperor Meiji, who ordered the dissolution of the two-hundred-year-old Tokugawa shogunate. Tokugawa Yoshinobu launched a military campaign to seize the emperor's court in Kyoto. However, the tide rapidly turned in favor of the smaller but relatively modernized imperial faction and resulted in defections of many ''daimyōs'' to the Imperial side. The [[Battle of Toba–Fushimi]] was a decisive victory in which a combined army from Chōshū, Tosa, and Satsuma domains defeated the Tokugawa army.{{sfn|Jansen|2002|p=312}} A series of battles were then fought in pursuit of supporters of the Shogunate; Edo surrendered to the Imperial forces and afterward, Yoshinobu personally surrendered. Yoshinobu was stripped of all his power by Emperor Meiji and most of Japan accepted the emperor's rule.

Pro-Tokugawa remnants retreated to northern Honshū ([[Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei]]) and later to Ezo (present-day [[Hokkaidō]]), where they established the breakaway [[Republic of Ezo]]. An expeditionary force was dispatched by the new government and the Ezo Republic forces were overwhelmed. The [[Battle of Hakodate|siege of Hakodate]] came to an end in May 1869 and the remaining forces surrendered.{{sfn|Jansen|2002|p=312}}

===Meiji era (1868–1912)===
[[File:Emperor Meiji in 1873.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Emperor Meiji]], the 122nd emperor of Japan]]

{{Main|Meiji period|Meiji Restoration|Government of Meiji Japan}}

The [[Charter Oath]] was made public at the enthronement of Emperor Meiji of Japan on April 7, 1868. The Oath outlined the main aims and the course of action to be followed during Emperor Meiji's reign, setting the legal stage for Japan's modernization.<ref>{{harvnb|Keene|2002|p=340}}, notes that one might "describe the Oath in Five Articles as a constitution for all ages".</ref> The [[Meiji oligarchy|Meiji leaders]] also aimed to boost morale and win financial support for the [[Government of Meiji Japan|new government]].
[[File:Iwakura mission.jpg|thumb|left|Prominent members of the Iwakura mission. Left to right: [[Kido Takayoshi]], Yamaguchi Masuka, [[Iwakura Tomomi]], [[Itō Hirobumi]], [[Ōkubo Toshimichi]]]]

Japan dispatched the [[Iwakura Mission]] in 1871. The mission traveled the world in order to renegotiate the unequal treaties with the United States and European countries that Japan had been forced into during the Tokugawa shogunate, and to gather information on western social and economic systems, in order to effect the modernization of Japan. Renegotiation of the unequal treaties was universally unsuccessful, but close observation of the American and European systems inspired members on their return to bring about modernization initiatives in Japan. Japan made a [[Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875)|territorial delimitation treaty]] with [[Russian Empire|Russia]] in 1875, gaining all the [[Kuril islands]] in exchange for [[Sakhalin island]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archives.go.jp/ayumi/kobetsu/m08_1875_02.html |title=明治8年（1875）4月｜漸次立憲政体樹立の詔が発せられ、元老院・大審院が設置される：日本のあゆみ}}</ref>

The Japanese government sent observers to Western countries to observe and learn their practices, and also paid "[[Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan|foreign advisors]]" in a variety of fields to come to Japan to educate the populace. For instance, the judicial system and [[Meiji Constitution|constitution]] were modeled after [[Prussia]], described by [[Saburō Ienaga]] as "an attempt to control popular thought with a blend of [[Confucianism]] and [[German conservatism]]."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kazuhiro |first=Takii |title=The Meiji Constitution. The Japanese Experience Of The West And The Shaping Of The Modern State |publisher=International House of Japan |year=2007 |pages=14}}</ref> The government also outlawed customs linked to Japan's feudal past, such as publicly displaying and wearing [[katana]] and the [[Chonmage|top knot]], both of which were characteristic of the samurai class, which was abolished together with the caste system. This would later bring the Meiji government into [[Satsuma Rebellion|conflict with the samurai]].

Several writers, under the constant threat of assassination from their political foes, were influential in winning Japanese support for [[westernization]]. One such writer was [[Fukuzawa Yukichi]], whose works included "Conditions in the West", "[[Datsu-A Ron|Leaving Asia]]", and "An Outline of a Theory of Civilization", which detailed Western society and his own philosophies. In the Meiji Restoration period, military and economic power was emphasized. Military strength became the means for national development and stability. Imperial Japan became the only non-Western [[world power]] and a major force in [[East Asia]] in about 25 years as a result of industrialization and economic development.

As writer [[Albrecht von Urach|Albrecht Fürst von Urach]] comments in his booklet "The Secret of Japan's Strength", published in 1942, during the [[Axis powers]] period:
<blockquote>The rise of Japan to a world power during the past 80 years is the greatest miracle in world history. The mighty empires of antiquity, the major political institutions of the Middle Ages and the early modern era, the Spanish Empire, the British Empire, all needed centuries to achieve their full strength. Japan's rise has been meteoric. After only 80 years, it is one of the few great powers that determine the fate of the world.<ref>[http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/japan.htm The Secret of Japan's Strength] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711230850/http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/japan.htm |date=July 11, 2007 }} www.calvin.edu</ref></blockquote>

====Transposition in social order and cultural destruction====
{{Main|Japanese new religions#Before World War II|Christianity in Japan#Opening of Japan|History of the Catholic Church in Japan#Rediscovery and return}}
{{see also|Burakumin|Turanism}}

In the 1860s, Japan began to experience great social turmoil and rapid modernization. The feudal caste system in Japan formally ended in 1869 with the [[Meiji restoration]]. In 1871, the newly formed [[Meiji Era|Meiji]] government issued a decree called ''Senmin Haishirei'' ([[:ja:賤民廃止令|賤民廃止令]] ''Edict Abolishing Ignoble Classes'') giving [[burakumin]] equal legal status. It is currently better known as the ''Kaihōrei'' ([[:ja:解放令|解放令]] ''Emancipation Edict''). However, the elimination of their economic monopolies over certain occupations actually led to a decline in their general living standards, while social discrimination simply continued. For example, the ban on the consumption of meat from livestock was lifted in 1871, and many former ''burakumin'' moved on to work in [[slaughterhouse|abattoirs]] and as [[butcher]]s. However, slow-changing social attitudes, especially in the countryside, meant that abattoirs and workers were met with hostility from local residents. Continued ostracism as well as the decline in living standards led to former ''burakumin'' communities turning into slum areas.

In the [[Blood tax riots]], the Japanese Meiji government brutally put down revolts by Japanese samurai angry over the legal revocation of the traditional [[Untouchability|untouchable]] status of burakumin.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

The social tension continued to grow during the [[Meiji period]], affecting religious practices and institutions. Conversion from traditional faith was no longer legally forbidden, officials lifted the 250-year ban on Christianity, and missionaries of established Christian churches reentered Japan. The traditional [[syncreticism]] between Shinto and [[Buddhism]] ended. Losing the protection of the Japanese government which Buddhism had enjoyed for centuries, Buddhist monks faced radical difficulties in sustaining their institutions, but their activities also became less restrained by governmental policies and restrictions. As social conflicts emerged in this last decade of the Edo period, some new religious movements appeared, which were directly influenced by [[shamanism]] and [[Shinto]].

Emperor Ogimachi issued edicts to ban Catholicism in 1565 and 1568, but to little effect. Beginning in 1587 with imperial regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ban on Jesuit missionaries, Christianity was repressed as a threat to national unity. Under Hideyoshi and the succeeding Tokugawa shogunate, Catholic Christianity was repressed and adherents were persecuted. After the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity in 1620, it ceased to exist publicly. Many Catholics went underground, becoming {{nihongo|hidden Christians|隠れキリシタン|kakure kirishitan}}, while others lost their lives. After Japan was opened to foreign powers in 1853, many Christian clergymen were sent from Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches, though proselytism was still banned. Only after the Meiji Restoration, was Christianity re-established in Japan. Freedom of religion was introduced in 1871, giving all Christian communities the right to legal existence and preaching.

[[Eastern Orthodoxy]] was brought to Japan in the 19th century by St. Nicholas (baptized as Ivan Dmitrievich Kasatkin),<ref name="snow">''Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Nicholas of Japan, Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist web-site, Washington D.C.''</ref> who was sent in 1861 by the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] to [[Hakodate]], Hokkaidō as priest to a chapel of the Russian Consulate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orthodoxjapan.jp/daishukyou.html |title=日本の正教会の歴史と現代 "History of Japanese Orthodox Church and Now" |access-date=August 25, 2007 |date=February 1, 2007 |publisher=The Orthodox Church in Japan |language=ja}}</ref> St. Nicholas of Japan made his own translation of the [[New Testament]] and some other religious books ([[Triodion|Lenten Triodion]], [[Pentecostarion]], [[Liturgy|Feast Services]], [[Book of Psalms]], [[Irmologion]]) into [[Japanese language|Japanese]].<ref>''Orthodox translation of Gospel into Japanese, Pravostok Orthodox Portal, October 2006''</ref> Nicholas has since been canonized as a saint by the [[Patriarchate of Moscow]] in 1970, and is now recognized as St. Nicholas, [[Equal-to-the-Apostles]] to Japan. His commemoration day is February 16. [[Andronic Nikolsky]], appointed the first Bishop of Kyoto and later martyred as the archbishop of [[Perm, Russia|Perm]] during the [[Russian Revolution]], was also canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a Saint and Martyr in the year 2000.

[[File:Nagasaki Oura C1378.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Basilica of the Twenty-Six Holy Martyrs of Japan (Nagasaki)|Ōura Church]], [[Nagasaki]]]]
[[Divie Bethune McCartee]] was the first ordained [[Presbyterian]] minister [[Mission (Christian)|mission]]ary to visit Japan, in 1861–1862. His gospel [[Tract (literature)|tract]] translated into Japanese was among the first Protestant literature in Japan. In 1865, McCartee moved back to [[Ningbo]], China, but others have followed in his footsteps. There was a burst of growth of Christianity in the late 19th century when Japan re-opened its doors to the West. Protestant church growth slowed dramatically in the early 20th century under the influence of the military government during the [[Shōwa period]].

Under the Meiji Restoration, the practices of the samurai classes, deemed feudal and unsuitable for modern times following the end of {{transliteration|ja|sakoku}} in 1853, resulted in a number of edicts intended to 'modernise' the appearance of upper class Japanese men. With the Dampatsurei Edict of 1871 issued by Emperor Meiji during the early Meiji Era, men of the samurai classes were forced to cut their hair short, effectively abandoning the chonmage ({{transliteration|ja|chonmage}}) hairstyle.<ref name="kanban">{{cite book |last=Scott Pate |first=Alan |title=Kanban: Traditional Shop Signs of Japan |date=9 May 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4ofDgAAQBAJ&dq=Dampatsurei+Edict&pg=PA149 |location=New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press |quote=In 1871 the Dampatsurei edict forced all samurai to cut off their topknots, a traditional source of identity and pride. |isbn=978-0691176475}}</ref>{{rp|149}}

During the early 20th century, the government was suspicious towards a number of unauthorized religious movements and periodically made attempts to suppress them. Government suppression was especially severe from the 1930s until the early 1940s, when the growth of [[Japanese nationalism]] and [[State Shinto]] were closely linked. Under the Meiji regime ''[[lèse majesté]]'' prohibited insults against the Emperor and his Imperial House, and also against some major Shinto shrines which were believed to be tied strongly to the Emperor. The government strengthened its control over religious institutions that were considered to undermine State Shinto or nationalism.

The majority of [[Japanese castle]]s were [[Japanese castle#Meiji Restoration|smashed and destroyed]] in the late 19th century in the Meiji restoration by the Japanese people and government in order to modernize and westernize Japan and break from their past feudal era of the Daimyo and Shoguns. It was only due to the [[1964 Summer Olympics]] in Japan that cheap concrete replicas of those castles were built for tourists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tengulife.com/2017/05/the-rise-of-concrete-castle.html |title=The Rise of the Concrete Castle |last= |first= |date=May 2, 2017 |website=TenguLife: The curious guide to Japan}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://blog.gaijinpot.com/a-race-across-japan-to-see-its-last-original-castles/ |title=A Race Across Japan to See its Last Original Castles |last=Foo |first=Audrey |date=Jan 17, 2019 |website=GaijinPot}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2296.html |title=Japanese castles History of Castles |date=September 4, 2021 |website=Japan Guide}}</ref> The vast majority of castles in Japan today are new replicas made out of concrete.<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |date= |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/kansai/himeji/attractions/himeji-jo/a/poi-sig/1097570/356690 |title=Himeji-jō |website=Lonely Planet}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |date=Apr 6, 2020 |title=Japan's Modern Castles Episode One: Himeji Castle (姫路城) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddVbPRgO_50 |publisher=Japan's Modern Castles}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://pursuitist.com/japanese-concrete-castle/ |title=Japanese Concrete Castle |last=Carter |first=Alex |date=May 22, 2010}}</ref> In 1959 a concrete keep was built for Nagoya castle.<ref>{{cite news |last=Baseel |first=Casey |date=March 27, 2017 |title=Nagoya Castle's concrete keep to be demolished and replaced with traditional wooden structure |url=https://japantoday.com/category/national/nagoya-castles-concrete-keep-to-be-demolished-and-replaced-with-traditional-wooden-structure |work=RocketNews24}}</ref>

During the Meiji restoration's [[Shinbutsu bunri]], tens of thousands of Japanese Buddhist religious idols and temples were smashed and destroyed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://jref.com/articles/shinbutsu-bunri-the-separation-of-shinto-and-buddhism.468/ |title=Shinbutsu bunri – the separation of Shinto and Buddhism |last= |first= |date=11 July 2019 |website=Japan Reference}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Park |first1=T. L. |date= |title=Process of architectural wooden preservation in Japan |url=https://www.witpress.com/Secure/elibrary/papers/STR13/STR13041FU1.pdf |journal=Structural Studies, Repairs and Maintenance of Heritage Architecture |volume=XIII |issue= |pages=491–502}}</ref> Many statues still lie in ruins. Replica temples were rebuilt with concrete. Japan then closed and shut done tens of thousands of traditional old Shinto shrines in the [[Shrine Consolidation Policy]] and the Meiji government built the new modern [[List of the Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Restoration|15 shrines]] of the [[Kenmu restoration]] as a political move to link the Meiji restoration to the Kenmu restoration for their new State Shinto cult.

Japanese had to look at old paintings in order to find out what the [[Horyuji temple]] used to look like when they rebuilt it. The rebuilding was originally planned for the Shōwa era.<ref>{{cite news |last=Burgess |first=John |date=December 26, 1985 |title=After 51 Years, a Temple Is Restored |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/12/26/after-51-years-a-temple-is-restored/39e9345f-d796-40be-b639-587fba1d8319/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |location= |access-date=}}</ref>

The Japanese used mostly concrete in 1934 to rebuild the [[Togetsukyo Bridge]], unlike the original destroyed wooden version of the bridge from 836.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://alljapantours.com/japan/travel/where-to-go/best-places-to-see-in-kyoto-japan/ |title=20 PLACES YOU MUST SEE IN KYOTO |last=Hannah |first=Dayna |date=June 12, 2018 |website=Japan Travel Blog}}</ref>

====Political reform====
{{Main|Meiji Constitution}}
[[File:Japanese Parliament in session.jpg|thumb|upright|Interior of the [[House of Peers (Japan)|Japanese Parliament]], showing the Prime Minister speaking addressing the House of Peers, 1915]]

The idea of a written constitution had been a subject of heated debate within and outside of the government since the beginnings of the [[Meiji government]]. The conservative Meiji oligarchy viewed anything resembling [[democracy]] or [[republicanism]] with suspicion and trepidation, and favored a gradualist approach. The [[Freedom and People's Rights Movement]] demanded the immediate establishment of an elected [[national assembly]], and the promulgation of a constitution.

The constitution recognized the need for change and modernization after the removal of the [[shogunate]]:
<blockquote>We, the Successor to the prosperous Throne of Our Predecessors, do humbly and solemnly swear to the Imperial Founder of Our House and to Our other Imperial Ancestors that, in pursuance of a great policy co-extensive with the Heavens and with the Earth, We shall maintain and secure from decline the ancient form of government. ... In consideration of the progressive tendency of the course of human affairs and in parallel with the advance of civilization, We deem it expedient, in order to give clearness and distinctness to the instructions bequeathed by the Imperial Founder of Our House and by Our other Imperial Ancestors, to establish fundamental laws. ...</blockquote>

Imperial Japan was founded, ''[[de jure]]'', after the 1889 signing of Constitution of the Empire of Japan. The constitution formalized much of the Empire's political structure and gave many responsibilities and powers to the Emperor.
*Article 1. The Empire of Japan shall be reigned over and governed by a line of Emperors unbroken for ages eternal.
*Article 2. The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded to by Imperial male descendants, according to the provisions of the Imperial House Law.
*Article 3. The Emperor is sacred and inviolable.
*Article 4. The Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in Himself the rights of sovereignty, and exercises them, according to the provisions of the present Constitution.
*Article 5. The Emperor exercises the legislative power with the consent of the Imperial Diet.
*Article 6. The Emperor gives sanction to laws, and orders them to be promulgated and executed.
*Article 7. The Emperor convokes the Imperial Diet, opens, closes and prorogues it, and dissolves the House of Representatives.
*Article 11. The Emperor has the supreme command of the Army and Navy.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://history.hanover.edu/texts/1889con.html |title=1889 Japanese Constitution |website=history.hanover.edu}}</ref>
*Article 12. The Emperor determines the organization and peace standing of the Army and Navy.
*Article 13. The Emperor declares war, makes peace, and concludes treaties.
*Article 14. The Emperor declares a state of siege.
*Article 15. The Emperor confers titles of nobility, rank, orders and other marks of honor.
*Article 16. The Emperor orders amnesty, pardon, commutation of punishments and rehabilitation.
*Article 17. A Regency shall be instituted in conformity with the provisions of the Imperial House Law.

In 1890, the [[National Diet|Imperial Diet]] was established in response to the Meiji Constitution. The Diet consisted of the [[House of Representatives of Japan]] and the [[House of Peers (Japan)|House of Peers]]. Both houses opened seats for colonial people as well as Japanese. The Imperial Diet continued until 1947.<ref name=ndlconstitution/>

====Economic development====
[[File:Baron Tarokaja Masuda c1915.png|thumb|upright|Baron Masuda Tarokaja, a member of the House of Peers (''[[Kazoku]]''). His father, Baron [[Masuda Takashi]], was responsible for transforming ''[[Mitsui]]'' into a ''[[zaibatsu]]''.]]

{{Main|Economy of the Empire of Japan|Economic history of Japan#20th century}}

Economic development was characterized by rapid [[industrialization]], the development of a [[capitalist economy]],<ref name="Odagiri & Goto">{{cite book |last=Odagiri |first=Hiroyuki |title=Technology and Industrial Development in Japan |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-19-828802-2 |pages=72–73}}</ref> and the transformation of many [[Feudal Japan hierarchy|feudal]] workers to [[wage labour]]. The use of strike action also increased, and 1897, with the establishment of a union for metalworkers, the foundations of the modern [[Labor unions in Japan|Japanese trade-union movement]] were formed.<ref>Nimura, K. (1997). [http://www.historycooperative.org/cgi-bin/justtop.cgi?act=justtop&url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/104.3/br_18.html The Ashio Riot of 1907: A Social History of Mining in Japan.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091204072930/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/104.3/br_18.html|date=2009-12-04}} ''American Historical Review, 104:3.'' June 1999. Retrieved 16 June 2011</ref>

Samurai were allowed to work in any occupation they wanted. Admission to universities was determined based on examination results. The government also recruited more than 3,000 Westerners to teach modern science, mathematics, technology, and foreign languages in Japan ([[O-yatoi gaikokujin]]).<ref>Hardy's Case, The Japan Weekly Mail, January 4, 1875.</ref> Despite this, [[social mobility]] was still low due to samurai and their descendants being overrepresented in the new elite class.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=Gregory |last2=Ishii |first2=Tatsuya |date=2012 |title=Social Mobility in Japan, 1868–2012: The Surprising Persistence of the Samurai |url=https://faculty.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/gclark/The%20Son%20Also%20Rises/Japan%202012.pdf |journal=University of California, Davis}}</ref>

After sending observers to the United States, the Empire of Japan initially copied the decentralized American system with no central bank.<ref>Phra Sarasas, ''Money And Banking in Japan'' (1940) p. 107.</ref> In 1871, the ''New Currency Act'' of Meiji 4 (1871) abolished the local currencies and established the [[yen]] as the new decimal currency. It had parity with the Mexican silver dollar.<ref>Itsuo Hamaoka, ''A study on the Central Bank of Japan'' (1902) [[iarchive:studyoncentralba00hamauoft|online]]</ref><ref>Masato Shizume, "A History of the Bank of Japan, 1882–2016." (Waseda University, 2016) [https://www.waseda.jp/fpse/winpec/assets/uploads/2014/05/No.E1719.pdf online]</ref>

====First Sino-Japanese War====
{{Main|First Sino-Japanese War|Taiwan under Japanese rule}}
The [[First Sino-Japanese War]], fought in 1894 and 1895, revolved around the issue of control and influence over Korea under the rule of the [[Joseon dynasty]]. Korea had traditionally been a [[tributary state]] of China's [[Qing dynasty|Qing Empire]], which exerted large influence over the conservative Korean officials who gathered around the royal family of the Joseon kingdom. On February 27, 1876, after several confrontations between Korean isolationists and the Japanese, Japan imposed the [[Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876]], forcing Korea open to Japanese trade. The act blocked any other power from dominating Korea, resolving to end the centuries-old Chinese [[suzerainty]].

On June 4, 1894, Korea requested aid from the Qing Empire in suppressing the [[Donghak Peasant Revolution|Donghak Rebellion]]. The Qing government sent 2,800 troops to Korea. The Japanese countered by sending an 8,000-troop expeditionary force (the Oshima Composite Brigade) to Korea. The first 400 troops arrived on June 9 en route to [[Seoul]], and 3,000 landed at [[Incheon]] on June 12.<ref name="Seth 2010 225">{{cite book |last=Seth |first=Michael J |title=A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present |year=2010 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-0-7425-6716-0 |page=225 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WJtMGXyGlUEC}}</ref> The Qing government turned down Japan's suggestion for Japan and China to cooperate to reform the Korean government. When Korea demanded that Japan withdraw its troops from Korea, the Japanese refused. In early June 1894, the 8,000 Japanese troops captured the Korean king Gojong, occupied the [[Gyeongbokgung|Royal Palace]] in Seoul and, by June 25, installed a puppet government in Seoul. The new pro-Japanese Korean government granted Japan the right to expel Qing forces while Japan dispatched more troops to Korea.

China objected and war ensued. Japanese ground troops routed the Chinese forces on the [[Liaodong Peninsula]], and nearly destroyed the Chinese navy in the [[Battle of the Yalu River (1894)|Battle of the Yalu River]]. The [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]] was signed between Japan and China, which ceded the Liaodong Peninsula and the island of [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan]] to Japan. After the peace treaty, Russia, Germany, and [[French Third Republic|France]] forced Japan to withdraw from Liaodong Peninsula in the [[Triple Intervention]]. Soon afterward, Russia occupied the Liaodong Peninsula, built the [[Port Arthur naval base|Port Arthur]] fortress, and based the [[Pacific Fleet (Russia)|Russian Pacific Fleet]] in the port. Germany occupied [[Jiaozhou Bay]], built Tsingtao fortress and based the German [[East Asia Squadron]] in this port.

====Boxer Rebellion====
[[File:Portrait_of_Komura_Jutaro.jpg|thumb|upright|Marquess [[Komura Jutarō|Komura Jutaro]]. Komura became Minister for Foreign Affairs under the first Katsura administration, and signed the [[Boxer Protocol]] on behalf of Japan.]]
{{Main|Boxer Rebellion|Boxer Protocol}}

In 1900, Japan joined an international military coalition set up in response to the Boxer Rebellion in the Qing Empire of China. Japan provided the largest contingent of troops: 20,840, as well as 18 warships. Of the total, 20,300 were Imperial Japanese Army troops of the [[5th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|5th Infantry Division]] under Lt. General Yamaguchi Motoomi; the remainder were 540 naval ''rikusentai'' (marines) from the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}

At the beginning of the Boxer Rebellion the Japanese only had 215 troops in northern China stationed at Tientsin; nearly all of them were naval ''rikusentai'' from the {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Kasagi||2}} and the {{ship|Japanese gunboat|Atago||2}}, under the command of Captain [[Shimamura Hayao]].{{sfn|Ion|2014|p=44}} The Japanese were able to contribute 52 men to the [[Seymour Expedition]].{{sfn|Ion|2014|p=44}} On 12 June 1900, the advance of the Seymour Expedition was halted some {{convert|30|mi|km|sigfig=1|order=flip}} from the capital, by mixed Boxer and Chinese regular army forces. The vastly outnumbered allies withdrew to the vicinity of [[Tianjin]], having suffered more than 300 casualties.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=97}} The [[Imperial Japanese Army General Staff|army general staff]] in Tokyo had become aware of the worsening conditions in China and had drafted ambitious contingency plans,{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=98}} but in the wake of the Triple Intervention five years before, the government refused to deploy large numbers of troops unless requested by the western powers.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=98}} However three days later, a provisional force of 1,300 troops commanded by Major General [[Fukushima Yasumasa]] was to be deployed to northern China. Fukushima was chosen because he spoke fluent English which enabled him to communicate with the British commander. The force landed near Tianjin on July 5.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=98}}

On 17 June 1900, naval ''Rikusentai'' from the ''Kasagi'' and ''Atago'' had joined British, Russian, and German sailors to seize the [[Battle of the Taku Forts (1900)|Dagu forts]] near Tianjin.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=98}} In light of the precarious situation, the British were compelled to ask Japan for additional reinforcements, as the Japanese had the only readily available forces in the region.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=98}} Britain at the time was heavily engaged in the [[Boer War]], so a large part of the British army was tied down in South Africa. Further, deploying large numbers of troops from its [[British Indian Army|garrisons in India]] would take too much time and weaken internal security there.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=98}} Overriding personal doubts, Foreign Minister [[Aoki Shūzō]] calculated that the advantages of participating in an allied coalition were too attractive to ignore. Prime Minister Yamagata agreed, but others in the cabinet demanded that there be guarantees from the British in return for the risks and costs of the major deployment of Japanese troops.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=98}} On July 6, 1900, the 5th Infantry Division was alerted for possible deployment to China, but no timetable was set for this. Two days later, with more ground troops urgently needed to lift the siege of the foreign legations at Peking, the British ambassador offered the Japanese government one million British pounds in exchange for Japanese participation.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=98}}

Shortly afterward, advance units of the 5th Division departed for China, bringing Japanese strength to 3,800 personnel out of the 17,000 of allied forces.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=98}} The commander of the 5th Division, Lt. General Yamaguchi Motoomi, had taken operational control from Fukushima. Japanese troops were involved in the [[Battle of Tientsin|storming of Tianjin]] on July 14,{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=98}} after which the allies consolidated and awaited the remainder of the 5th Division and other coalition reinforcements. By the time the siege of legations was lifted on August 14, 1900, the Japanese force of 13,000 was the largest single contingent and made up about 40% of the approximately 33,000 strong allied expeditionary force.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=98}} Japanese troops involved in the fighting had acquitted themselves well, although a British military observer felt their aggressiveness, densely-packed formations, and over-willingness to attack cost them excessive and disproportionate casualties.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=99}} For example, during the Tianjin fighting, the Japanese suffered more than half of the allied casualties (400 out of 730) but comprised less than one quarter (3,800) of the force of 17,000.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=99}} Similarly at Beijing, the Japanese accounted for almost two-thirds of the losses (280 of 453) even though they constituted slightly less than half of the assault force.{{sfn|Drea|2009|p=99}}

After the uprising, Japan and the Western countries signed the [[Boxer Protocol]] with China, which permitted them to station troops on Chinese soil to protect their citizens. After the treaty, Russia continued to occupy all of [[Manchuria]].

====Russo-Japanese War====
[[File:Assaut-Kin-Tchéou.jpg|thumb|French illustration of a Japanese assault on entrenched Russian troops during the [[Russo-Japanese War]]]]
{{Main|Russo-Japanese War}}
{{Expand section|date=February 2018}}

The [[Russo-Japanese War]] was a conflict for control of Korea and parts of Manchuria between the Russian Empire and Empire of Japan that took place from 1904 to 1905. The victory greatly raised Japan's stature in the world of global politics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paine |first=Sarah |title=The Russo-Japanese War in Global Perspective: World War Zero |pages=503}}</ref> The war is marked by the Japanese opposition of Russian interests in Korea, Manchuria, and China, notably, the Liaodong Peninsula, controlled by the city of [[Lüshunkou District|Ryojun]].

Originally, in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Ryojun had been given to Japan. This part of the treaty was overruled by Western powers, which gave the port to the Russian Empire, furthering Russian interests in the region. These interests came into conflict with Japanese interests. The war began with a surprise attack on the Russian Eastern fleet stationed at Port Arthur, which was followed by the [[Battle of Port Arthur]]. Those elements that attempted escape were defeated by the Japanese navy under Admiral Togo Heihachiro at the [[Battle of the Yellow Sea]]. Following a late start, the Russian Baltic fleet was denied passage through the British-controlled [[Suez Canal]]. The fleet arrived on the scene a year later, only to be annihilated in the [[Battle of Tsushima]]. While the ground war did not fare as poorly for the Russians, the Japanese forces were significantly more aggressive than their Russian counterparts and gained a political advantage that culminated with the [[Treaty of Portsmouth]], negotiated in the United States by the [[President of the United States|American president]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. As a result, Russia lost the part of [[Sakhalin]] Island south of [[50th parallel north|50 degrees North]] latitude (which became [[Karafuto Prefecture]]), as well as many mineral rights in Manchuria. In addition, Russia's defeat cleared the way for Japan to [[Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty|annex Korea outright]] in 1910.

====Annexation of Korea====
{{Main|Korea under Japanese rule}}

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, various Western countries actively competed for influence, trade, and territory in East Asia, and Japan sought to join these modern colonial powers. The newly modernised Meiji government of Japan turned to Korea (under the Joseon dynasty), then in the [[sphere of influence]] of China's Qing dynasty. The Japanese government initially sought to separate Korea from Qing and make Korea a Japanese [[puppet state]] in order to further their security and national interests.<ref>{{cite book |last=Duus |first=Peter |title=The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895–1910 |publisher=Berkeley: University of California Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0520213616}}</ref>

In January 1876, following the Meiji Restoration, Japan employed [[gunboat diplomacy]] to pressure the Joseon Dynasty into signing the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876, which granted [[Extraterritoriality|extraterritorial rights]] to Japanese citizens and opened three Korean ports to Japanese trade. The rights granted to Japan under this [[unequal treaty]],<ref name=autogenerated1>[http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707220222.html A reckless adventure in Taiwan amid Meiji Restoration turmoil] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031070532/http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707220222.html |date=October 31, 2007 }}, ''THE ASAHI SHIMBUN'', Retrieved on July 22, 2007.</ref> were similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of Commodore Perry.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> Japanese involvement in Korea increased during the 1890s, a period of political upheaval.

Korea (under the [[Korean Empire]]) was occupied and declared a Japanese [[protectorate]] following the [[Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905]]. After proclaimed the founding of the Korean Empire, Korea was officially [[annexed]] in Japan through the annexation treaty in 1910.

In Korea, the period is usually described as the "Time of Japanese Forced Occupation" ([[Hangul]]: {{lang|ko|일제 강점기}}; ''Ilje gangjeomgi'', [[Hanja]]: 日帝强占期). Other terms include "Japanese Imperial Period" ([[Hangul]]: {{lang|ko|일제시대}}, ''Ilje sidae'', [[Hanja]]: 日帝時代) or "Japanese administration" ([[Hangul]]: {{lang|ko|왜정}}, ''Wae jeong'', {{lang|ko|[[Hanja]]: 倭政}}). In Japan, a more common description is {{nihongo|"The Korea of Japanese rule"|日本統治時代の朝鮮|Nippon Tōchi-jidai no Chōsen}}. The [[Korean Peninsula]] was officially part of the Empire of Japan for 35 years, from August 29, 1910, until the formal Japanese rule ended, ''de jure'', on September 2, 1945, upon the [[surrender of Japan]] in [[World War II]]. The 1905 and 1910 treaties were eventually declared "null and void" by both Japan and South Korea in 1965.

===Taishō era (1912–1926)===
[[File:Emperor Taishō.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Emperor Taishō]], the 123rd emperor of Japan]]
{{Main|Taishō period}}

====World War I====
{{Main|Japan during World War I|Japanese entry into World War I|Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I}}
{{see also|South Seas Mandate}}

Japan entered [[World War I]] on the side of the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] in 1914, seizing the opportunity of Germany's distraction with the European War to expand its sphere of influence in China and the Pacific. Japan declared war on Germany on August 23, 1914. Japanese and allied British Empire forces soon moved to occupy Tsingtao fortress, the German East Asia Squadron base, German-leased territories in China's [[Shandong|Shandong Province]] as well as the [[Marianas]], [[Caroline Islands|Caroline]], and [[Marshall Islands]] in the Pacific, which were part of [[German New Guinea]]. The swift invasion in the German territory of the [[Kiautschou Bay concession]] and the [[Siege of Tsingtao]] proved successful. The German colonial troops surrendered on November 7, 1914, and Japan gained the German holdings. In 1920, the [[League of Nations]] established the South Seas Mandate under Japanese administration to replace German New Guinea.

With its Western allies, notably the United Kingdom, heavily involved in the war in Europe, Japan [[Japan during World War I#Events of 1917|dispatched a Naval fleet]] to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to aid Allied shipping. Japan sought further to consolidate its position in China by presenting the [[Twenty-One Demands]] to China in January 1915. In the face of slow negotiations with the Chinese government, widespread [[anti-Japanese sentiment in China]], and international condemnation, Japan withdrew the final group of demands, and treaties were signed in May 1915. The [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]] was renewed and expanded in scope twice, in 1905 and 1911, before its demise in 1921. It was officially terminated in 1923.

====Siberian Intervention====
[[File:Major General Graves, U.S.A., Gen. Otani, Japanese Army, and Staff, Vladivostok, Siberia., ca. 1918 - ca. 1919 - NARA - 533738.jpg|thumb|Commanding Officers and Chiefs of Staff of the Allied Military Mission to [[Siberia]], [[Vladivostok]] during the [[Siberian intervention|Allied intervention]]]]

{{Main|Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War|Siberian Intervention|Japanese intervention in Siberia}}

After the fall of the Tsarist regime and the later provisional regime in 1917, the new [[Bolshevik]] [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|government]] signed a separate peace [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk|treaty]] with Germany. After this, various factions that succeeded the Russian Empire fought amongst themselves in [[Russian Civil War|a multi-sided civil war]].

In July 1918, President Wilson asked the Japanese government to supply 7,000 troops as part of an international coalition of 25,000 troops planned to support the [[American Expeditionary Force Siberia]]. Prime Minister [[Terauchi Masatake]] agreed to send 12,000 troops but under the Japanese command rather than as part of an international coalition. The Japanese had several hidden motives for the venture, which included an intense hostility and fear of communism; a determination to recoup historical losses to Russia; and the desire to settle the ''"northern problem"'' in Japan's security, either through the creation of a buffer state or through outright territorial acquisition.

By November 1918, more than 70,000 [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese troops]] under Chief of Staff Yui Mitsue had occupied all ports and major towns in the [[Primorsky Krai|Russian Maritime Provinces]] and eastern [[Siberia]]. Japan received 765 [[Polish people|Polish]] orphans from Siberia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Question 1917年（大正6年）のロシア革命時に、シベリアに在留していたポーランド孤児を日本政府が救済したことについて調べています。 |publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan]] |url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/annai/honsho/shiryo/qa/taisho_01.html#0908_02 |access-date=October 3, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Polish orphans |publisher=[[Tsuruga, Fukui|Tsuruga city]] |url=http://www.city.tsuruga.lg.jp/sypher/free/kk-museum/polish-orhpans/polish-orhpans.html |access-date=October 3, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112081121/http://www.city.tsuruga.lg.jp/sypher/free/kk-museum/polish-orhpans/polish-orhpans.html |archive-date=November 12, 2010}}</ref>

In June 1920, around 450 Japanese civilians and 350 Japanese soldiers, along with Russian White Army supporters, were massacred by partisan forces associated with the [[Red Army]] at [[Nikolayevsk Incident|Nikolayevsk on the Amur River]]; the United States and its allied coalition partners consequently withdrew from Vladivostok after the capture and execution of White Army leader Admiral [[Aleksandr Kolchak]] by the Red Army. However, the Japanese decided to stay, primarily due to fears of the spread of Communism so close to Japan and Japanese-controlled Korea and Manchuria. The Japanese army provided military support to the Japanese-backed [[Provisional Priamurye Government]] based in Vladivostok against the Moscow-backed [[Far Eastern Republic]].

The continued Japanese presence concerned the United States, which suspected that Japan had territorial designs on Siberia and the Russian Far East. Subjected to intense diplomatic pressure by the United States and United Kingdom, and facing increasing domestic opposition due to the economic and human cost, the administration of Prime Minister [[Katō Tomosaburō]] withdrew the Japanese forces in October 1922. Japanese casualties from the expedition were 5,000 dead from combat or illness, with the expedition costing over 900&nbsp;million yen.

===="Taishō Democracy"====
[[File:Itagaki Taisuke.jpg|thumb|upright|Count [[Itagaki Taisuke]] is credited as being the first Japanese party leader and an important force for liberalism in Meiji Japan.]]

The two-party political system that had been developing in Japan since the turn of the century came of age after World War&nbsp;I, giving rise to the nickname for the period, "[[Taishō Democracy]]". The public grew disillusioned with the growing national debt and the new election laws, which retained the old minimum tax qualifications for voters. Calls were raised for universal suffrage and the dismantling of the old political party network. Students, university professors, and journalists, bolstered by labor unions and inspired by a variety of democratic, socialist, communist, anarchist, and other thoughts, mounted large but orderly public demonstrations in favor of universal male suffrage in 1919 and 1920.

On 1 September 1923, at a magnitude of 7.9, an [[Great Kantō Earthquake|earthquake struck Kantō Plain]]. The death toll was estimated to have exceeded to 140,000 lives lost. On the same day, the Imperial Japanese Army and its nationalists committed a [[Kantō Massacre|massacre]] of Korean residents.

The election of [[Katō Takaaki|Katō Komei]] as Prime Minister of Japan continued democratic reforms that had been advocated by influential individuals on the left. This culminated in the passage of universal male suffrage in March 1925. This bill gave all male subjects over the age of 25 the right to vote, provided they had lived in their electoral districts for at least one year and were not homeless. The electorate thereby increased from 3.3&nbsp;million to 12.5&nbsp;million.<ref>Hane, Mikiso, ''Modern Japan: A Historical Survey'' (Oxford: Westview Press, 1992) 234.</ref>

In the political milieu of the day, there was a proliferation of new parties, including socialist and communist parties. Fear of a broader electorate, left-wing power, and the growing social change led to the passage of the [[Peace Preservation Law]] in 1925, which forbade any change in the political structure or the abolition of private property.

In 1932, Park Chun-kum was elected to the House of Representatives in the [[Japanese general election, 1932|Japanese general election]] as the first person elected from a colonial background.{{clarify|date=July 2013}}<ref name="shugiin150">{{cite web |date=November 16, 2000 |title=第150回国会 政治倫理の確立及び公職選挙法改正に関する特別委員会 第12号 平成12年11月16日（木曜日） |url=http://www.shugiin.go.jp/itdb_kaigiroku.nsf/html/kaigiroku/007115020001116012.htm?OpenDocument |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928200616/http://www.shugiin.go.jp/itdb_kaigiroku.nsf/html/kaigiroku/007115020001116012.htm?OpenDocument |archive-date=September 28, 2011 |access-date=October 10, 2009 |publisher=House of Representatives of Japan}}</ref> In 1935, democracy was introduced in Taiwan and in response to Taiwanese public opinion, local assemblies were established.<ref name="nittaikyo">{{cite web |title=戦間期台湾地方選挙に関する考察 |url=http://www.nittaikyo-ei.join-us.jp/koichi.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411052847/http://www.nittaikyo-ei.join-us.jp/koichi.html |archive-date=April 11, 2008 |access-date=October 10, 2009 |work=古市利雄 |publisher=台湾研究フォーラム 【台湾研究論壇】}}</ref> In 1942, 38 colonial people were elected to local assemblies of the Japanese homeland.<ref name="shugiin150" />

Unstable coalitions and divisiveness in the Diet led the [[Kenseikai]] ({{lang|ja|憲政会}} ''Constitutional Government Association'') and the Seiyū Hontō ({{lang|ja|政友本党}} ''True Seiyūkai'') to merge as the [[Constitutional Democratic Party (Japan)|Rikken Minseitō]] ({{lang|ja|立憲民政党}} ''Constitutional Democratic Party'') in 1927. The [[Rikken Minseitō]] platform was committed to the parliamentary system, democratic politics, and world peace. Thereafter, until 1932, the [[Rikken Seiyūkai|Seiyūkai]] and the Rikken Minseitō alternated in power.

Despite the political realignments and hope for more orderly government, domestic economic crises plagued whichever party held power. Fiscal austerity programs and appeals for public support of such conservative government policies as the Peace Preservation Law—including reminders of the moral obligation to make sacrifices for the emperor and the state—were attempted as solutions.

===Early Shōwa (1926–1930)===
[[File:Emperor Shōwa Army 1938-1-8.jpg|thumb|[[Hirohito|Emperor Shōwa]] during an army inspection on January 8, 1938]]{{Expand section|Article 11 of the [[Meiji Constitution]] and how the military had/gained influence in the civilian cabinet|date=April 2021|small=no}}{{More citations needed section|date=March 2024}}
{{Main|Shōwa era}}
[[Hirohito]] ascended to the throne on 25 December 1926, upon the death of his father [[Emperor Taishō]], beginning the [[Shōwa era]]. He would rule Japan as the 126th emperor to claim direct descent from [[Amaterasu]], the Japanese [[goddess of the sun]].

====Rise of militarism and its social organisations====
{{See also|Japanese militarism}}
Important institutional links existed between the party in government ([[Kōdōha]]) and military and political organizations, such as the [[Imperial Young Federation]] and the "Political Department" of the [[Kempeitai]]. Amongst the himitsu kessha (secret societies), the [[Black Dragon Society|Kokuryu-kai]] and Kokka Shakai Shugi Gakumei (National Socialist League) also had close ties to the government. The [[Tonarigumi]] (residents committee) groups, the Nation Service Society (national government trade union), and [[Imperial Farmers Association]] were all allied as well. Other organizations and groups related with the government in wartime were the [[Double Leaf Society]], [[Kokuhonsha]], [[Imperial Rule Assistance Association|Taisei Yokusankai]], [[Imperial Youth Corps]], [[Police services of the Empire of Japan|Keishichō]] (to 1945), Shintoist Rites Research Council, [[Treaty Faction]], [[Fleet Faction]], and [[Volunteer Fighting Corps]].

====Nationalism and decline of democracy====
{{Main|Japanese nationalism|Statism in Shōwa Japan|Imperial Way Faction|May 15 Incident|February 26 Incident}}
{{Further|Imperial Rule Assistance Association}}
[[Sadao Araki]] was an important figurehead and founder of the Army party and the most important militarist thinker in his time. His first ideological works date from his leadership of the Kōdōha (Imperial Benevolent Rule or Action Group), opposed by the [[Tōseiha]] (Control Group) led by General [[Kazushige Ugaki]]. He linked the ancient (''[[bushido]]'' code) and contemporary local and European fascist ideals (see [[Statism in Shōwa Japan]]), to form the ideological basis of the movement (Shōwa nationalism).

[[File:226 Police HQ Rebels.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Rebel troops assembling at police headquarters during the [[February 26 incident|February 26 Incident]]]]

From September 1931, the Japanese were becoming more locked into the course that would lead them into the Second World War, with Araki leading the way. Increasing authoritarianism, ultranationalism, [[militarism]], and [[expansionism]] were to become the rule, with fewer voices able to speak against it. In a September 23 news conference, Araki first mentioned the philosophy of "Kōdōha" (The [[Imperial Way Faction]]). The concept of Kodo linked the Emperor, the people, land, and morality as indivisible. This led to the creation of a "new" Shinto and increased [[Emperor worship]].

On February 26, 1936, a coup d'état was attempted (the [[February 26 Incident]]). Launched by the ultranationalist Kōdōha faction with the military, it ultimately failed due to the intervention of the Emperor. Kōdōha members were purged from the top military positions and the Tōseiha faction gained dominance. However, both factions believed in expansionism, a strong military, and a coming war. Furthermore, Kōdōha members, while removed from the military, still had political influence within the government.

The state was being transformed to serve the Army and the Emperor. Symbolic katana swords came back into fashion as the martial embodiment of these beliefs, and the [[Nambu pistol]] became its contemporary equivalent, with the implicit message that the Army doctrine of close combat would prevail. The final objective, as envisioned by Army thinkers such as Sadao Araki and right-wing line followers, was a return to the old Shogunate system, but in the form of a contemporary Military Shogunate. In such a government the Emperor would once more be a figurehead (as in the Edo period). Real power would fall to a leader very similar to a führer or duce, though with the power less nakedly held. On the other hand, the traditionalist Navy militarists defended the Emperor and a constitutional monarchy with a significant religious aspect.

A third point of view was supported by [[Prince Chichibu]], a brother of [[Emperor Shōwa]], who repeatedly counseled him to implement a ''direct imperial rule'', even if that meant suspending the constitution.<ref>[[Herbert Bix]], ''[[Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan]]'', 2001, p. 284</ref>

With the launching of the [[Taisei Yokusankai|Imperial Rule Assistance Association]] in 1940 by Prime Minister [[Fumimaro Konoe]], Japan would turn to a form of government that resembled totalitarianism. This unique style of government, similar to [[fascism]], was known as "Shōwa Statism".{{cn|date=March 2024}} There has been a debate among historians over defining the political system of Japan as a dictatorship and its resemblance to European Fascism: the arguments in favour of this view were "the subordination of both country and society to militarism, control by a rigid style of leadership exercising authoritarian discipline, and the most brutal treatment of occupied areas", but it was noted that the Japanese far-right organizations lacked a mass movement similar to the mass Fascist movement in Europe, and some pluralism continued to exist even during the World War II: [[Stanley G. Payne]] describes Japan as "somewhat pluralistic authoritarian system which exhibited some of the characteristics of fascism, but
it did not develop fascism's most distinctive and revolutionary aspects" and had more in common with the [[German Empire]] during the World War I than with the Third Reich. It was also noted that this political system lacked the figure of a single person with an absolute authority and a [[personality cult]], since Hirohito couldn't be referred to as a dictator because of being a monarch, and since his authority existed along with party politics, while Hideki Tojo never had an absolute authority and was forced to resign, while the IRAA, according to [[Roger Griffin]], was "little more than a bureaucratic fiction"; as historians noted, the ideological base for Japanese "was traditional, even if the methods of communication and control were modern and European", and that the traditional society of Japan was "to a large degree differential", while its institutions remained too elitist and conservative to follow such practices as a "democratic mass mobilization" characteristic of totalitarianism.<ref name="sjlee"/><ref name="sgpayne">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x_MeR06xqXAC | isbn=978-0-299-14873-7 | title=A History of Fascism, 1914–1945 | date=January 1996 | publisher=University of Wisconsin Pres }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQFUAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA154 | title=The Nature of Fascism | isbn=978-1-136-14588-9 | last1=Griffin | first1=Roger | date=October 11, 2013 | publisher=Routledge }}</ref>

In the early twentieth century, a distinctive style of architecture was developed for the empire. Now referred to as [[Imperial Crown Style]] (帝冠様式, ''teikan yōshiki''), before the end of World War II, it was originally referred to as ''Emperor's Crown Amalgamate Style'', and sometimes ''Emperor's Crown Style'' (帝冠式, Teikanshiki). The style is identified by Japanese-style roofing on top of [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] styled buildings; and can have a centrally elevated structure with a pyramidal dome. The prototype for this style was developed by architect [[Shimoda Kikutaro]] in his proposal for the Imperial Diet Building (present National Diet Building) in 1920 – although his proposal was ultimately rejected. Outside of the Japanese mainland, in places like [[Taiwan]] and [[Korea]], Imperial Crown Style architecture often included regional architectural elements.<ref>{{cite book |author=Francis Chia-Hui Lin |title=Heteroglossic Asia: The Transformation of Urban Taiwan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BYIcBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT85 |date=January 9, 2015 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-62637-4 |pages=85–}}</ref>

Overall, during the 1920s, Japan changed its direction toward a democratic system of government. However, [[parliamentary government]] was not rooted deeply enough to withstand the economic and political pressures of the 1930s, during which military leaders became increasingly influential. These shifts in power were made possible by the ambiguity and imprecision of the Meiji Constitution, particularly as regarded the position of the Emperor in relation to the constitution.

====Economic factors====
[[File:Bank run during the Showa Financial Crisis.JPG|thumb|upright|A bank run during the [[Shōwa financial crisis]], March 1927]]
During the 1920s, the whole global economy was dubbed as "a decade of global uncertainty". At the same time, the ''[[zaibatsu]]'' trading groups (principally [[Mitsubishi]], [[Mitsui]], [[Sumitomo]], and [[Yasuda zaibatsu|Yasuda]]) looked towards great future expansion. Their main concern was a shortage of raw materials. Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe combined social concerns with the needs of capital, and planned for expansion. Their economic growth was stimulated by certain domestic policies and it can be seen in the steady and progressive increase of materials such as in the iron, steel and chemical industry.{{sfn|Nish|2002|p=78}}

The main goals of Japan's expansionism were acquisition and protection of spheres of influence, maintenance of territorial integrity, acquisition of raw materials, and access to Asian markets. Western nations, notably the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, had for long exhibited great interest in the commercial opportunities in China and other parts of Asia. These opportunities had attracted Western investment because of the availability of raw materials for both domestic production and re-export to Asia. Japan desired these opportunities in planning the development of the [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere]].

The [[Great Depression]], just as in many other countries, hindered Japan's economic growth. The Japanese Empire's main problem lay in that rapid industrial expansion had turned the country into a major manufacturing and industrial power that required raw materials; however, these had to be obtained from overseas, as there was a critical lack of natural resources on the home islands.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Japan needed to import raw materials such as iron, rubber, and oil to maintain strong economic growth. Most of these resources came from the United States. The Japanese felt that acquiring resource-rich territories would establish economic self-sufficiency and independence, and they also hoped to jump-start the nation's economy in the midst of the depression. As a result, Japan set its sights on East Asia, specifically Manchuria with its many resources; Japan needed these resources to continue its economic development and maintain national integrity.

===Later Shōwa (1931–1941)===
{{Main|Hakkō ichiu|National Spiritual Mobilization Movement|World War II}}

====Prewar expansionism====
{{Main|Japanese nationalism|Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere}}

===== Manchuria =====
{{Main|Mukden Incident|Japanese invasion of Manchuria|Pacification of Manchukuo}}
[[File:Mukden 1931 japan shenyang.jpg|thumb|Japanese troops entering [[Shenyang]], [[Northeast China]] during the [[Mukden Incident]], 1931]]

In 1931, Japan invaded and conquered Northeast China (Manchuria) with little resistance. Japan claimed that this invasion was a liberation of the local [[Manchu]]s from the Chinese, although the majority of the population were [[Han Chinese]] as a result of the [[Chuang Guandong|large scale settlement of Chinese in Manchuria]] in the 19th century. Japan then established a [[puppet state]] called [[Manchukuo]] ({{zh|t=滿洲國}}), and installed the last [[List of emperors of the Qing dynasty|Manchu Emperor of China]], [[Puyi]], as the official [[head of state]]. [[Rehe Province|Rehe]], a Chinese territory bordering Manchukuo, was later also taken in 1933. This puppet regime had to carry on a protracted pacification campaign against the [[Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies]] in Manchuria. In 1936, Japan created a similar Mongolian puppet state in Inner Mongolia named [[Mengjiang]] ({{zh|t=蒙疆}}), which was also predominantly Chinese as a result of recent Han immigration to the area. At that time, East Asians were banned from immigration to [[Immigration Act of 1924|North America]] and [[White Australia policy|Australia]], but the newly established Manchukuo was open to immigration of Asians. Japan had an emigration plan to encourage colonization; the Japanese population in Manchuria subsequently grew to 850,000.<ref>Kevin McDowell. Japan in Manchuria: Agricultural Emigration in the Japanese Empire, 1932–1945. University of Arizona</ref> With rich natural resources and labor force in Manchuria, army-owned corporations turned Manchuria into a solid material support machine of the Japanese Army.<ref name="The Economist">{{cite news |title=The Unquiet Past Seven decades on from the defeat of Japan, memories of war still divide East Asia |newspaper=The Economist |date=August 12, 2015 |url=https://www.economist.com/news/essays/en/asia-second-world-war-ghosts |access-date=November 26, 2016}}</ref>

===== Second Sino-Japanese War =====
{{Main|Second Sino-Japanese War}}
[[File:First pictures of the Japanese occupation of Peiping in China.jpg|thumb|The Japanese occupation of Beiping ([[Beijing]]) in China, on August 13, 1937. Japanese troops are shown passing from Beiping into the Tartar City through [[Zhengyangmen]], the main gate leading onward to the palaces in the [[Forbidden City]].]]

Japan invaded China proper in 1937, beginning a war against both [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s Nationalists and also the Communists of [[Mao Zedong]]'s [[Second United Front|united front]]. On December 13 of that same year, the Nationalist capital of [[Nanjing]] [[Battle of Nanjing|surrendered to Japanese troops]]. In the event known as the "[[Nanjing Massacre]]", Japanese troops killed many tens-of-thousands of people associated with the defending garrison. It is estimated that as many as 200,000 to 300,000 including civilians, may have been killed, although the actual numbers are uncertain and possibly inflated—coupled with the fact that the government of the [[People's Republic of China]] has never undertaken a full accounting of the massacre. In total, an estimated 20&nbsp;million Chinese, mostly civilians, were killed during World War II. [[Wang Jingwei regime|A puppet state]] was also set up in China quickly afterwards, headed by [[Wang Jingwei]]. The Second Sino-Japanese War continued into World War II with the Communists and Nationalists in a temporary and uneasy nominal alliance against the Japanese.

===== Clashes with the Soviet Union =====
{{Main|Battle of Lake Khasan|Battles of Khalkhin Gol|Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact}}

In 1938, the Japanese 19th Division entered territory claimed by the Soviet Union, leading to the [[Battle of Lake Khasan]]. This incursion was founded in the Japanese belief that the Soviet Union misinterpreted the demarcation of the boundary, as stipulated in the [[Treaty of Peking]], between Imperial Russia and Manchu China (and subsequent supplementary agreements on demarcation), and furthermore, that the demarcation markers were tampered with.

On May 11, 1939, in the Nomonhan Incident ''([[Battle of Khalkhin Gol]])'', a Mongolian cavalry unit of some 70 to 90 men entered the disputed area in search of grazing for their horses, and encountered Manchukuoan cavalry, who drove them out. Two days later the Mongolian force returned and the Manchukoans were unable to evict them.

The [[IJA 23rd Division]] and other units of the [[Kwantung Army]] then became involved. [[Joseph Stalin]] ordered [[Stavka]], the Red Army's high command, to develop a plan for a counterstrike against the Japanese. In late August, [[Georgy Zhukov]] employed encircling tactics that made skillful use of superior artillery, armor, and air forces; this offensive nearly annihilated the 23rd Division and decimated the [[IJA 7th Division]]. On September 15 an armistice was arranged. Nearly two years later, on April 13, 1941, the parties signed a [[Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact|Neutrality Pact]], in which the Soviet Union pledged to respect the territorial integrity and inviolability of Manchukuo, while Japan agreed similarly for the [[Mongolian People's Republic]].

=====Tripartite Pact=====
{{Main|Tripartite Pact|Axis powers}}
[[File:Signing ceremony for the Axis Powers Tripartite Pact.jpg|thumb|Signing ceremony for the [[Tripartite Pact]], September 27, 1940 in [[Berlin]], [[Nazi Germany]]]]

In 1938, Japan prohibited the expulsion of the [[Jews]] in Japan, Manchuria, and [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] in accordance with the spirit of [[Racial Equality Proposal|racial equality]] on which Japan had insisted for many years.<ref name=mof>{{cite web |title=Question 戦前の日本における対ユダヤ人政策の基本をなしたと言われる「ユダヤ人対策要綱」に関する史料はありますか。また、同要綱に関する説明文はありますか。 |publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan]] |url=http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/annai/honsho/shiryo/qa/senzen_03.html |access-date=October 2, 2010}}</ref><ref name=gosho>{{cite web |title=猶太人対策要綱 |work=Five Ministers Council |publisher=[[National Archives of Japan|Japan Center for Asian Historical Record]] |url=http://www.jacar.go.jp/DAS/meta/listPhoto?IS_STYLE=default&ID=M2006092115064531921 |page=36/42 |date=December 6, 1938 |access-date=October 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726042931/http://www.jacar.go.jp/DAS/meta/listPhoto?IS_STYLE=default&ID=M2006092115064531921 |archive-date=July 26, 2011}}</ref>

The Second Sino-Japanese War had seen tensions rise between Imperial Japan and the United States; events such as the [[Panay incident]] and the Nanjing Massacre turned American public opinion against Japan. With the occupation of [[French Indochina]] in the years of 1940–41, and with the continuing war in China, the United States and its allies placed embargoes on Japan of [[strategic material]]s such as scrap metal and oil, which were vitally needed for the war effort. The Japanese were faced with the option of either withdrawing from China and losing face or seizing and securing new sources of raw materials in the resource-rich, European-controlled colonies of [[Southeast Asia]]—specifically [[British Malaya]] and the [[Dutch East Indies]] (modern-day [[Indonesia]]).

On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the [[Tripartite Pact]] with [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] and [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]]. Their objectives were to "establish and maintain a new order of things" in their respective world regions and spheres of influence, with Germany and Italy in Europe, and Japan in Asia. The signatories of this [[Military alliance|alliance]] became known as the [[Axis Powers]]. The pact also called for mutual protection—if any one of the member powers was attacked by a country not already at war, excluding the [[Soviet Union]] and for technological and economic cooperation between the signatories.

For the sake of their own people and nation, Prime Minister Konoe formed the Taisei Yokusankai (Imperial Rule Assistance Association) on October 12, 1940, as a ruling party in Japan.

In 1940 Japan [[:ja:紀元二千六百年記念行事|celebrated the 2600th anniversary of Jimmu's ascension]] and built a monument to [[Hakkō ichiu]] despite the fact that all historians knew Jimmu was a made up figure. In 1941 the Japanese government charged the one historian who dared to challenge Jimmu's existence publicly, Tsuda Sokichi.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sundberg |first1=Steve |title=2600th Anniversary of the Founding of Japan, 1940. |url=http://www.oldtokyo.com/2600th-anniversary-of-the-founding-of-japan-1940/ |website=Old Tokyo |date=October 22, 2018}}</ref> During the Second Sino-Japanese War and the [[Second World War]], the firm [[Iwanami Shoten]] was repeatedly censored because of its positions against the war and the Emperor. Shigeo Iwanami was even sentenced to two months in prison for the publication of the banned works of Tsuda Sōkichi (a sentence which he did not serve, however). Shortly before his death in 1946, he founded the newspaper ''[[Sekai (magazine)|Sekai]]'', which had a great influence in post-war Japanese intellectual circles.<ref name=echo>{{cite journal |author=Joseph K. Yamagiwa |title=Literature and Politics in the Japanese Magazine, Sekai |journal=Public Affairs |date=September 1955 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=254–268 |jstor=3035405}}</ref> The early 20th century historian [[:ja:津田左右吉|Tsuda Sōkichi]], who put forward the then-controversial theory that the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Kojiki]]}}<nowiki/>'s accounts were not based on history (as Edo period {{lang|ja-latn|kokugaku}} and State Shinto ideology believed them to be) but rather propagandistic myths concocted to explain and legitimize the rule of the imperial dynasty, also saw [[Susanoo]] as a negative figure, arguing that he was created to serve as the rebellious opposite of the imperial ancestress Amaterasu.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gadeleva |first1=Emilia |title=Susanoo: One of the Central Gods in Japanese Mythology |journal=Nichibunken Japan Review: Bulletin of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies |year=2000 |volume=12 |pages=166–7 |publisher=International Research Center for Japanese Studies |doi=10.15055/00000288}}</ref> A [[historian]] in 20th century, Sokichi Tsuda's view of history, which has become mainstream after the World War II, is based on his idea. Many scholars today also believe that the mythology of [[Takamagahara]] in {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} was created by the [[ruling class]] to make people believe that the class was precious because they originated in the heavenly realm.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Joos |first=Joël |date=2008-01-01 |title=17. Memories Of A Liberal, Liberalism Of Memory: Tsuda Sōkichi And A Few Things He Forgot To Mention |url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004213203/Bej.9781905246380.i-382_018.xml |journal=The Power of Memory in Modern Japan |language=en |pages=291–307 |doi=10.1163/ej.9781905246380.i-382.134 |isbn=9789004213203}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Reader |first=Ian |date=2003|editor-last=Befu|editor-first=Harumi|editor2-last=Oguma|editor2-first=Eiji |title=Identity, Nihonjinron, and Academic (Dis)honesty |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3096753 |journal=Monumenta Nipponica |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=103–116 |jstor=3096753 |issn=0027-0741}}</ref>

===World War II (1941–1945)===
{{Main|Japan during World War II|Pacific War}}
[[File:Second world war asia 1937-1942 map en6.png|thumb|Map of Japanese conquests from 1937 to 1942]]

On November 5, 1941, Yamamoto issued his "Top Secret Operation Order no. 1" to the Combined Fleet.  This document lays out the position that the Empire of Japan must drive out Britain and America from Greater East Asia, and hasten the settlement of China.  Once Britain and America were driven out from the Philippines and Dutch East Indies, an independent, self-supporting economic entity was to be established, mirroring the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.<ref>{{cite book|last=Morison|first=Samuel Eliot|title=History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume 3: The Rising Sun in the Pacific 1931 – April 1942|publisher=Naval Institute Press|date=2010|pages=80–81}}</ref>

Facing an oil embargo by the United States as well as dwindling domestic reserves, the Japanese government decided to execute a plan developed by [[Isoroku Yamamoto]] to attack the United States Pacific Fleet in Hawaii. While the United States was [[neutral country|neutral]] and continued negotiating with Japan for possible peace in Asia, the Imperial Japanese Navy at the same time made its surprise [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] in [[Honolulu]] on December 7, 1941. As a result, the U.S. battleship fleet was decimated and almost 2,500 people died in the attack that day. The primary objective of the attack was to incapacitate the United States long enough for Japan to establish its long-planned South East Asian empire and defensible buffer zones. The American public saw the attack as barbaric and treacherous and rallied against the Japanese. Four days later, [[Adolf Hitler]] of Germany, and [[Benito Mussolini]] of Italy declared war on the United States, merging the separate conflicts. The United States entered the [[European Theatre]] and [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]] in full force, thereby bringing the United States to World War II on the side of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]].

Even as they launched the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were well aware that the United States had the capability to mount a counter-offensive against them. However, they believed that they could maintain their defensive perimeter and push back any attempt by the British and Americans that could incur enough losses to make the Allied forces consider making peace on the basis of Japan's retainment of the territories she had gained.{{sfn|Morison|2010|p=81}}

====Japanese conquests====
[[File:JapaneseMarchSgpCity.jpg|thumb|Victorious Japanese troops marching through the city center of [[Singapore in the Straits Settlements|Singapore]] following the [[Fall of Singapore|city's capture]] in February 1942]]

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched offensives against Allied forces in East and Southeast Asia, with simultaneous attacks in [[History of colonial Hong Kong|British Hong Kong]], British Malaya and the [[Commonwealth of the Philippines|Philippines]]. [[Battle of Hong Kong|Hong Kong surrendered]] to the Japanese on December 25. In [[Battle of Malaya|Malaya]] the Japanese overwhelmed an Allied army composed of British, Indian, [[Second Australian Imperial Force|Australian]] and [[Malays (ethnic group)|Malay]] forces. The Japanese were quickly able to advance down the [[Malayan Peninsula]], forcing the Allied forces to retreat towards [[Singapore in the Straits Settlements|Singapore]]. The Allies lacked aircover and tanks; the Japanese had complete air superiority. The [[Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse|sinking of HMS ''Prince of Wales'' and HMS ''Repulse'']] on December 10, 1941, led to the east coast of Malaya being exposed to Japanese landings and the elimination of British naval power in the area. By the end of January 1942, the last Allied forces crossed the strait of Johore and into Singapore.

On January 11, 1942, a Japanese submarine shelled the United States naval Station at Pago Pago in Samoa, suggesting that the Japanese were advancing to the direction of Australia and nearby Oceanic regions.{{sfn|Morison|2010|page=259}}

In [[Battle of the Philippines (1941–42)|the Philippines]], the Japanese pushed the combined American-Filipino force towards [[Battle of Bataan|the Bataan Peninsula]] and later the [[Battle of Corregidor|island of Corregidor]]. By January 1942, [[General Douglas MacArthur]] and President [[Manuel L. Quezon]] were [[Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines|forced to flee]] in the face of Japanese advance. This marked one of the worst defeats suffered by the Americans, leaving over 70,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war in the custody of the Japanese. On February 15, 1942, [[Straits Settlements|Singapore]], due to the overwhelming superiority of Japanese forces and encirclement tactics, [[Battle of Singapore|fell to the Japanese]], causing the largest [[Surrender (military)|surrender]] of British-led military personnel in history. An estimated 80,000 Australian, British and Indian troops were taken as [[prisoners of war]], joining 50,000 taken in the Japanese invasion of Malaya (modern day [[Malaysia]]). The Japanese then seized the key oil production zones of [[Borneo]], [[Central Java]], [[Malang]], [[Cebu]], [[Sumatra]], and [[Dutch New Guinea]] of the late [[Dutch East Indies campaign|Dutch East Indies]], defeating the [[Dutch forces]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Klemen L. |title=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726053035/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/index.html |archive-date=July 26, 2011}}</ref> However, Allied sabotage had made it difficult for the Japanese to restore oil production to its pre-war peak.<ref name="combinedfleet.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/guadoil1.htm |title=Oil and Japanese Strategy in the Solomons: A Postulate |website=www.combinedfleet.com}}</ref> The Japanese then consolidated their lines of supply through capturing key islands of the [[Pacific]], including [[Guadalcanal]].

====Tide turns====
[[File:Battle of Midway.jpg|thumb|A model representing the attack by dive bombers from {{USS|Yorktown|CV-5|6}} and {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|6}} on the Japanese aircraft carriers {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Sōryū||2}}, {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi||2}} and {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Kaga||2}} in the morning of June 4, 1942, during the [[Battle of Midway]]]]

Japanese military strategists were keenly aware of the unfavorable discrepancy between the industrial potential of Japan and the United States. Because of this they reasoned that Japanese success hinged on their ability to extend the strategic advantage gained at [[Naval Station Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] with additional rapid strategic victories. The Japanese Command reasoned that only decisive destruction of the United States' Pacific Fleet and conquest of its remote outposts would ensure that the Japanese Empire would not be overwhelmed by America's industrial might.

In April 1942, Japan was bombed for the first time in the [[Doolittle Raid]]. During the same month, after the Japanese victory in the Battle of Bataan, the [[Bataan Death March]] was conducted, where 5,650 to 18,000 Filipinos died under the rule of the imperial army.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/254296/lifestyle/artandculture/ww2-historical-markers-remind-pinoys-of-bataan-s-role-on-day-of-valor/ |title=WW2 historical markers remind Pinoys of Bataan's role on Day of Valor |website=GMA News Online|date=April 9, 2012 }}</ref> In May 1942, failure to decisively defeat the Allies at the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]], in spite of Japanese numerical superiority, equated to a strategic defeat for the Japanese. This setback was followed in June 1942 by the catastrophic loss of four fleet carriers at the [[Battle of Midway]], the first decisive defeat for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It proved to be the turning point of the war as the Navy lost its offensive strategic capability and never managed to reconstruct the "'critical mass' of both large numbers of carriers and well-trained air groups".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://combinedfleet.com/battles/Battle_of_Midway |title=Battle of Midway – Nihon Kaigun |website=combinedfleet.com}}</ref>

Australian land forces defeated Japanese Marines in New Guinea at the [[Battle of Milne Bay]] in September 1942, which was the first land defeat suffered by the Japanese in the Pacific. Further victories by the Allies at [[Guadalcanal campaign|Guadalcanal]] in September 1942 and [[New Guinea]] in 1943 put the Empire of Japan on the defensive for the remainder of the war, with Guadalcanal in particular sapping their already-limited oil supplies.<ref name="combinedfleet.com"/> During 1943 and 1944, Allied forces, backed by the industrial might and vast raw material resources of the United States, advanced steadily towards Japan. The [[Sixth United States Army]], led by [[General MacArthur]], landed on [[Leyte Island|Leyte]] on October 20, 1944. The [[Palawan massacre]] was committed by the imperial army against Filipinos in December 1944.<ref>Wilbanks, Bob (2004). Last Man Out. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 45, 53, 56, 68–69, 80–81, 84–85, 92, 98–99, 100, 102, 106–107. {{ISBN|9780786418220}}.</ref> In the subsequent months, during the [[Philippines campaign (1944–45)]], the Allies, including the combined United States forces together with the native guerrilla units, recaptured the Philippines.

====Surrender====
{{Main|Surrender of Japan|Potsdam Declaration|Victory over Japan Day}}
[[File:Japanese battleship Haruna sunk.jpg|thumb|The rebuilt battlecruiser {{ship|Japanese battleship|Haruna||2}} sank at her moorings in the naval base of [[Kure, Hiroshima|Kure]] on July 24 during a [[Attacks on Kure and the Inland Sea (July 1945)|series of bombings]].]]

By 1944, the Allies had seized or bypassed and neutralized many of Japan's strategic bases through amphibious landings and bombardment. This, coupled with the losses inflicted by [[Allied submarines in the Pacific War|Allied submarines]] on Japanese shipping routes, began to strangle Japan's economy and undermine its ability to supply its army. By early 1945, the US Marines had wrested control of the [[Ogasawara Islands]] in several hard-fought battles such as the [[Battle of Iwo Jima]], marking the beginning of the fall of the islands of Japan. After securing airfields in [[Saipan]] and [[Guam]] in the summer of 1944, the [[United States Army Air Forces]] conducted an intense [[Strategic bombing during World War II|strategic bombing campaign]] by having [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29 Superfortress]] bombers in nighttime low altitude incendiary raids, burning Japanese cities in an effort to pulverize Japan's war industry and [[demoralization (warfare)|shatter its morale]]. The [[Operation Meetinghouse]] raid on Tokyo on the night of March 9–10, 1945, led to the deaths of approximately 120,000 civilians. Approximately 350,000–500,000 civilians died in 67 Japanese cities as a result of the [[Firebombing|incendiary bombing]] campaign on Japan. Concurrent with these attacks, Japan's vital coastal shipping operations were severely hampered with extensive aerial mining by the US's [[Operation Starvation]]. Regardless, these efforts did not succeed in persuading the Japanese military to surrender. In mid-August 1945, the United States dropped [[nuclear weapon]]s on the Japanese cities of [[Hiroshima]] and [[Nagasaki]]. These bombings were the first and only combat use of nuclear weaponry. These two bombs killed approximately 120,000 people in a matter of seconds, and as many as a result of [[nuclear radiation]] in the following weeks, months and years. The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945.

At the [[Yalta agreement]], the US, the UK, and the USSR had agreed that the USSR would enter the war on Japan within three months of the defeat of Germany in Europe. This [[Soviet–Japanese War]] led to the fall of Japan's Manchurian occupation, Soviet occupation of [[South Sakhalin]] island, and a real, imminent threat of Soviet invasion of the home islands of Japan. This was a significant factor for some internal parties in the Japanese decision to surrender to the US<ref>Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan Tsuyoshi Hasegawa Belknap Press (October 30, 2006) {{ISBN|978-0674022416}}</ref> and gain some protection, rather than face simultaneous Soviet invasion as well as defeat by the US and its allies. Likewise, the [[Operation Unthinkable|superior numbers of the armies of the Soviet Union in Europe]] was a factor in the US decision to demonstrate the use of atomic weapons to the USSR,{{Citation needed|reason=Is this opinion? Is this documented? Is this historians collecting welfare?|date=October 2018}} just as the Allied victory in Europe was evolving into the [[division of Germany]] and Berlin, the division of Europe with the [[Iron Curtain]] and the subsequent [[Cold War]].

Having ignored ([[mokusatsu]]) the [[Potsdam Declaration]], the Empire of Japan surrendered and [[End of World War II in Asia|ended World War II]] after the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], the declaration of war by the Soviet Union and subsequent [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|invasion of Manchuria]] and other territories. In a national radio address on August 15, [[Emperor Hirohito]] announced the surrender to the Japanese people by ''[[Gyokuon-hōsō]]''.

===End of the Empire of Japan===

====Occupation of Japan====
{{Main|Occupation of Japan}}
[[File:The Imperial Japanese Diet, Tokyo - the House of Representatives Art.IWMARTLD5841.jpg|thumb|A drawing depicting a speech in the [[National Diet|Imperial Japanese Diet]] on November 1, 1945, following the [[End of World War II in Asia|end of the Second World War]]. In the foreground are several Allied soldiers watching the proceedings from the back of the balcony.]]

A period known as [[occupied Japan]] followed after the war, largely spearheaded by US Army General Douglas MacArthur to revise the Japanese constitution and democratized the nation. The Allied occupation, including concurrent economic and political assistance, continued until 1952. Allied forces ordered Japan to abolish the Meiji Constitution and enforce the 1946 [[Constitution of Japan]]. This new constitution was imposed by the United States under the supervision of MacArthur. MacArthur included [[Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution|Article 9]] which changed Japan into a [[Pacifism|pacifist]] country.<ref>{{cite web |title=Resurgent Japan military 'can stand toe to toe with anybody |date=December 7, 2016 |publisher=CNN |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/06/asia/japan-military-pearl-harbor-anniversary/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204084031/https://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/06/asia/japan-military-pearl-harbor-anniversary/ |archive-date=December 4, 2018}}</ref>

Upon adoption of the 1947 constitution, the Empire of Japan was dissolved and became simply the [[Japan|modern state of Japan]]. With the formal surrender before, the empire's territory was much reduced to the Japanese archipelago; mostly the islands of [[Honshu]], [[Hokkaido]], [[Kyushu]], and [[Shikoku]]. This was confirmed by the 1951 [[Treaty of San Francisco]], a [[peace treaty]] about Japan. The [[Kuril Islands]] historically belonged to Japan<ref>{{cite book |last=Peattie |first=Mark R. |title=The Cambridge History of Japan Vol. 6 |chapter=Chapter 5 – The Japanese Colonial Empire 1895–1945 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1988 |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-22352-0}}</ref> and were first inhabited by the [[Ainu people]] before coming under the control of the [[Matsumae clan]] during the [[Edo Period]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Kuril Islands |first=John J |last=Stephan |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |year=1974 |pages=50–56}}</ref> Since 1945, Kuril has belonged to the [[Soviet Union]] and now [[Russia]].

Japan adopted a parliamentary-based political system, and the role of the Emperor became symbolic. The [[Occupation of Japan|US occupation forces]] were fully responsible for protecting Japan from external threats. Japan only had a minor police force for domestic security. Japan was under the sole control of the United States. This was the only time in [[Japanese history]] that it was occupied by a foreign power.<ref>{{cite web |last=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |title=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Japan, 1900 a.d.–present |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/11/eaj/ht11eaj.htm |access-date=February 1, 2009}}</ref>

General MacArthur later commended the new Japanese government that he helped establish and the new Japanese period when he was about to send the American forces to the [[Korean War]]:
<blockquote>The Japanese people, since the war, have undergone the greatest reformation recorded in modern history. With a commendable will, eagerness to learn, and marked capacity to understand, they have, from the ashes left in war's wake, erected in Japan an edifice dedicated to the supremacy of individual liberty and personal dignity; and in the ensuing process there has been created a truly representative government committed to the advance of political morality, freedom of economic enterprise, and social justice. Politically, economically, and socially Japan is now abreast of many free nations of the earth and will not again fail the universal trust. ... I sent all four of our occupation divisions to the Korean battlefront without the slightest qualms as to the effect of the resulting power vacuum upon Japan. The results fully justified my faith. I know of no nation more serene, orderly, and industrious, nor in which higher hopes can be entertained for future constructive service in the advance of the human race.</blockquote>

For historian [[John W. Dower]]:
<blockquote>In retrospect, apart from the military officer corps, the purge of alleged militarists and ultranationalists that was conducted under the Occupation had relatively small impact on the long-term composition of men of influence in the public and private sectors. The purge initially brought new blood into the political parties, but this was offset by the return of huge numbers of formerly purged conservative politicians to national as well as local politics in the early 1950s. In the bureaucracy, the purge was negligible from the outset. ... In the economic sector, the purge similarly was only mildly disruptive, affecting less than sixteen hundred individuals spread among some four hundred companies. Everywhere one looks, the corridors of power in postwar Japan are crowded with men whose talents had already been recognized during the war years, and who found the same talents highly prized in the 'new' Japan.<ref>J. W. Dower, ''Japan in War & Peace'', New press, 1993, p. 11</ref></blockquote>

==Influential personnel==
{{Main|List of Japanese government and military commanders of World War II}}

===Political===
In the administration of Japan dominated by the military political movement during World War II, the civil central government was under the management of military men and their right-wing civilian allies, along with members of the nobility and [[Imperial House of Japan|Imperial Family]]. The Emperor was in the center of this power structure as supreme [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the Imperial Armed Forces and head of state.

Early period:
*HIH Prince [[Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa|Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa]]
*HIH Prince [[Prince Naruhisa Kitashirakawa|Kitashirakawa Naruhisa]]
*HIH Prince [[Prince Komatsu Akihito|Komatsu Akihito]]
*HIH Marquess Michitsune Koga
*Prince [[Yamagata Aritomo]]
*Prince [[Itō Hirobumi]]
*Prince [[Katsura Tarō]]

World War II:
*Prince [[Fumimaro Konoe]]
*[[Kōki Hirota]]
*[[Hideki Tojo]]

{{Gallery|align=center
|width=120|File:ITŌ Hirobumi.jpg|Prince [[Itō Hirobumi]]
|File:HIH Prince Kitashirakawa Naruhisa.jpg|His Imperial Highness Prince [[Kitashirakawa Naruhisa]], the 3rd head of a collateral branch of the Japanese Imperial Family
|File:Michitsune Koga 01.jpg|His Imperial Highness Marquess Michitsune Koga, a member of the [[Imperial Family]], descending from [[Emperor Murakami]]. He was the former Governor of [[Tokyo Prefecture]].
|File:Nagayoshi Ogasawara.jpg|His Imperial Highness Count Nagayoshi Ogasawara, a member of the Imperial Family}}

===Diplomats===
Early period
*Marquess [[Komura Jutarō]]: [[Boxer Protocol]] and the [[Treaty of Portsmouth]]
*Count [[Mutsu Munemitsu]]: [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]]
*Count [[Hayashi Tadasu]]: [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]]
*Count [[Kaneko Kentarō]]: envoy to the [[United States]]
*Viscount [[Aoki Shūzō]]: Foreign Minister of Japan, [[Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation]]
*Viscount [[Torii Tadafumi]]: Vice Consul to the [[Hawaiian Kingdom|Kingdom of Hawaii]]
*Viscount [[Ishii Kikujirō|Ishii Kikujiro]]: [[Lansing–Ishii Agreement]]
World War II
*Baron [[Hiroshi Ōshima]]: Japanese ambassador to [[Nazi Germany]]

===Military===
{{main|Armed Forces of the Empire of Japan}}
[[File:Marshals Kawamura, Inoue, Oku and Tōgō.jpg|thumb|From left to right: Marshal Admiral [[Tōgō Heihachirō|Heihachirō Tōgō]] (1848–1934), Field Marshal [[Oku Yasukata]] (1847–1930), Marshal Admiral [[Inoue Yoshika|Yoshika Inoue]] (1845–1929) and Field Marshal [[Kawamura Kageaki|Kageaki Kawamura]] (1850–1926), at the unveiling ceremony of the bronze statue of Field Marshal [[Ōyama Iwao|Iwao Ōyama]]]]

The Empire of Japan's military was divided into two main branches: the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy. To coordinate operations, the [[Imperial General Headquarters]], headed by the Emperor, was established in 1893. Prominent generals and leaders:

====Imperial Japanese Army====
=====Early period=====
*[[Gensui (Imperial Japanese Army)|Field Marshal]] Prince [[Yamagata Aritomo]]: Chief of Staff of the Army, Prime Minister of Japan, Founder of the IJA
*Field Marshal Prince [[Ōyama Iwao]]: Chief of Staff of the Army
*Field Marshal Prince [[Prince Komatsu Akihito|Komatsu Akihito]]: Chief of Staff of the Army
*Field Marshal Marquis [[Nozu Michitsura]]:
*General Count [[Nogi Maresuke]]: Governor of Taiwan
*General Count [[Akiyama Yoshifuru]]: Chief of Staff of the Army
*General Count [[Kuroki Tamemoto]]
*General Count [[Nagaoka Gaishi]]
*Lieutenant General Baron [[Ōshima Ken'ichi]]: Chief of Staff of the Army, [[Ministry of the Army|Minister of War]] during [[World War I]]
*General Viscount [[Kodama Gentarō]]: Chief of Staff of the Army, Governor of Taiwan

=====World War II=====
*Field Marshal Prince [[Prince Kan'in Kotohito|Kotohito Kan'in]]: Chief of Staff of the Army
*Field Marshal [[Hajime Sugiyama]]: Chief of Staff of the Army
*General [[Senjūrō Hayashi]]: Chief of Staff of the Army, Prime Minister of Japan
*General [[Hideki Tojo|Hideki Tōjō]]: Prime Minister of Japan
*General [[Yoshijirō Umezu]]: Chief of Staff of the Army

====Imperial Japanese Navy====
=====Early period=====
*[[Gensui (Imperial Japanese Navy)|Marshal Admiral]] [[Prince Higashifushimi Yorihito]] (1867–1922)
*Marshal Admiral [[Marquess]] [[Tōgō Heihachirō]] (1847–1934), [[Battle of Tsushima]]
*Marshal Admiral [[Count]] [[Itō Sukeyuki]] (1843–1914)
*Admiral Count [[Kawamura Sumiyoshi]] (1836–1904)
*Marshal Admiral [[Viscount]] [[Inoue Yoshika]] (1845–1929)
*Marshal Admiral [[Baron]] [[Ijuin Gorō]] (1852–1921)
*Marshal Admiral Baron [[Katō Tomosaburō]] (1861–1923)
*Admiral Baron Akamatsu Noriyoshi (1841–1920)
*Vice Admiral [[Akiyama Saneyuki]] (1868–1918), Battle of Tsushima

=====World War II=====
*Marshal Admiral [[Mineichi Koga]] (1885–1944)
*Marshal Admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]] (1884–1943), [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], [[Battle of Midway]]
*Marshal Admiral [[Osami Nagano]] (1880–1947)
*Admiral [[Chūichi Nagumo]] (1887–1944), attack on Pearl Harbor, Battle of Midway<ref>{{cite web |author=Klemen L. |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/nagumo.html |title=Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630044158/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/nagumo.html |archive-date=June 30, 2012}}</ref>
*Rear Admiral [[Viscount]] [[Morio Matsudaira]] (1878–1944)

==Demographics==
{{Main|Demography of the Empire of Japan}}
{{Expand section|date=September 2021}}
[[File:Population Density of the Empire of Japan (1920).png|thumb|Population density map of the [[Japanese archipelago]] and southern [[Kuril Islands|Kuril]] (1920)]]
[[File:Population Density of the Empire of Japan (1940).png|thumb|Population density map of the Japanese archipelago and southern Kuril (1940)]]

==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of the Empire of Japan}}
{{Expand section|date=May 2021}}

==Education==
{{Main|Education in the Empire of Japan}}
{{Expand section|date=May 2021}}

==Notable scholars/scientists==

===19th century===

{{Gallery|align=center
|width=120|File:Sakugoro Hirase.jpg|[[Hirase Sakugorō]] (1856–1925) was a botanist, who won the [[Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy|Imperial Prize]] in 1912.|File:Otsuki Fumihiko signed photo.png|[[Ōtsuki Fumihiko]] (1847–1928), editor of two well-known Japanese-language [[dictionaries]], ''Genkai'' ({{lang|ja|言海}}, "sea of words", 1891) and its successor ''Daigenkai'' ({{lang|ja|大言海}}, "great sea of words", 1932–1937)|File:Ito Keisuke.jpg|Baron [[Keisuke Ito (botanist)|Keisuke Ito]] (1803–1901) was a biologist and a professor at the [[Imperial Universities|Imperial University in Tokyo]] (University of Tokyo).
|File:Kiyoo Wadachi 01.jpg|[[Kiyoo Wadati]] (1902–1995) was a seismologist, who won the [[Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy|Imperial Prize]] in 1932.|File:Teiji Takagi photographed by Shigeru Tamura.jpg|[[Teiji Takagi]] (1875–1960) was a mathematician who made seminal contributions to [[class field theory]], and a member of the selection committee for the first [[Fields Medal]].}}

====Anthropologists, ethnologists, archaeologists, and historians====
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Ōtsuki Fumihiko]] (1847–1928)
*[[Yusuke Hashiba]] (1851–1921)
*[[Koganei Yoshikiyo]] (1859–1944)
*[[Naitō Torajirō]] (1866–1934)
*[[Inō Kanori]] (1867–1925)
*[[Torii Ryūzō]] (1870–1953)
*Fujioka Katsuji (1872–1935)
*[[Masaharu Anesaki]] (1873–1949)
*[[Kunio Yanagita]] (1875–1962)
*[[Ushinosuke Mori]] (1877–1926)
*[[Ryūsaku Tsunoda]] (1877–1964)
*[[Kōsaku Hamada]] (1881–1938)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Kyōsuke Kindaichi]] (1882–1971)
*[[Tetsuji Morohashi]] (1883–1982)
*[[Tsuruko Haraguchi]] (1886–1915)
*[[Shinobu Orikuchi]] (1887–1953)
*[[Zenchū Nakahara]] (1890–1964)
{{div col end}}

====Medical scientists, biologists, evolutionary theorists, and geneticists====
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Keisuke Ito (botanist)|Keisuke Ito]] (1803–1901)
*[[Kusumoto Ine]] (1827–1903)
*[[Nagayo Sensai]] (1838–1902)
*[[Tanaka Yoshio]] (1838–1916)
*[[Nagai Nagayoshi]] (1844–1929)
*Miyake Hiizu (1848–1938)
*[[Takaki Kanehiro]] (1849–1920)
*[[Kitasato Shibasaburō]] (1853–1931)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Hirase Sakugorō]] (1856–1925)
*[[Jinzō Matsumura]] (1856–1928)
*Juntaro takahashi (1856–1920)
*[[Aoyama Tanemichi]] (1859–1917)
*[[Yoichirō Hirase]] (1859–1925)
*[[Ishikawa Chiyomatsu]] (1861–1935)
*[[Tomitaro Makino]] (1862–1957)
*[[Yamagiwa Katsusaburō]] (1863–1930)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] Yu Fujikawa (1865–1940)
*[[Fujiro Katsurada]] (1867–1946)
*[[Kamakichi Kishinouye]] (1867–1929)
*[[Yasuyoshi Shirasawa]] (1868–1947)
*[[Takuji Iwasaki]] (1869–1937)
*[[Kiyoshi Shiga]] (1871–1957)
*[[Heijiro Nakayama]] (1871–1956)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Sunao Tawara]] (1873–1952)
*[[Bunzō Hayata]] (1874–1934)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Ryukichi Inada]] (1874–1950)
*[[Kensuke Mitsuda]] (1876–1964)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Hideyo Noguchi]] (1876–1928)
*[[Fukushi Masaichi]] (1878–1956)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Takaoki Sasaki]] (1878–1966)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Gennosuke Fuse]] (1880–1946)
*[[Kono Yasui]] (1880–1971)
*[[Hakaru Hashimoto]] (1881–1934)
*[[Ichiro Miyake]] (1881–1964)
*[[Kunihiko Hashida]] (1882–1945)
*[[Takenoshin Nakai]] (1882–1952)
*[[Kyusaku Ogino]] (1882–1975)
*[[Gen-ichi Koidzumi]] (1883–1953)
*[[Makoto Nishimura]] (1883–1956)
*[[Shintarō Hirase]] (1884–1939)
*[[Tamezo Mori]] (1884–1962)
*[[Kanesuke Hara]] (1885–1962)
*[[Chōzaburō Tanaka]] (1885–1976)
*[[Michiyo Tsujimura]] (1888–1969)
*[[Yaichirō Okada]] (1892–1976)
*[[Ikuro Takahashi (botanist)|Ikuro Takahashi]] (1892–1981)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Hitoshi Kihara]] (1893–1986)
*[[Satyu Yamaguti]] (1894–1976)
*[[Kinichiro Sakaguchi]] (1897–1994)
*[[Minoru Shirota]] (1899–1982)
*[[Genkei Masamune]] (1899–1993)
{{div col end}}

==== Inventors, industrialists, engineers ====
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Tanaka Hisashige]] (1799–1881)
*[[Ōshima Takatō]] (1826–1901)
*[[Yamao Yōzō]] (1837–1917)
*Murata Tsuneyoshi (1838–1921)
*[[Masuda Takashi]] (1848–1938)
*[[Sasō Sachū]] (1852–1905)
*[[Arisaka Nariakira]] (1852–1915)
*[[Furuichi Kōi]] (1854–1934)
*[[Hirai Seijirō]] (1856–1926)
*[[Dan Takuma]] (1858–1932)
*[[Mikimoto Kōkichi]] (1858–1954)
*Shimose Masachika (1860–1911)
*[[Kotaro Shimomura]] (1861–1937)
*[[Chūhachi Ninomiya]] (1866–1936)
*[[Sakichi Toyoda]] (1867–1930)
*[[Kijirō Nambu]] (1869–1949)
*[[Namihei Odaira]] (1874–1951)
*[[Jujiro Matsuda]] (1875–1952)
*Masuda Tarokaja (1875–1953)
*[[Ryōichi Yazu]] (1878–1908)
*[[Yoshisuke Aikawa]] (1880–1967)
*[[Noritsugu Hayakawa]] (1881–1942)
*[[Miekichi Suzuki]] (1882–1936)
*[[Chikuhei Nakajima]] (1884–1949)
*[[Hidetsugu Yagi]] (1886–1976)
*[[Michio Suzuki (inventor)|Michio Suzuki]] (1887–1982)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Yasujiro Niwa]] (1893–1975)
*[[Tokuji Hayakawa]] (1893–1980)
*[[Kōnosuke Matsushita]] (1894–1989)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Kinjiro Okabe]] (1896–1984)
*[[Toshiwo Doko]] (1896–1988)
*[[Kenjiro Takayanagi]] (1899–1990)
{{div col end}}

====Philosophers, educators, mathematicians, and polymaths====
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Inoue Enryō]] (1799–1881)
*[[Nishimura Shigeki]] (1828–1902)
*[[Nishi Amane]] (1829–1897)
*[[Kikuchi Dairoku]] (1855–1917)
*[[Hōjō Tokiyuki (Scouting)|Hōjō Tokiyuki]] (1858–1929)
*[[Rikitaro Fujisawa]] (1861–1933)
*[[Mitsutaro Shirai]] (1863–1932)
*[[Nitobe Inazō]] (1862–1933)
*[[Paul Tsuchihashi]] (1866–1965)
*[[Kintarô Okamura]] (1867–1935)
*Totsudō Katō (1870–1949)
*[[Tsuruichi Hayashi]] (1873–1935)
*[[Yoshio Mikami]] (1875–1950)
*[[Teiji Takagi]] (1875–1960)
*[[Matsusaburo Fujiwara]] (1881–1946)
*[[Yoshishige Abe]] (1883–1966)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Sōichi Kakeya]] (1886–1947)
{{div col end}}

====Chemists, physicists, and geologists====
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Takamine Jōkichi|Jōkichi Takamine]] (1854–1922)
*[[Yamakawa Kenjirō]] (1854–1931)
*[[Sekiya Seikei]] (1855–1896)
*[[Tanakadate Aikitsu]] (1856–1952)
*[[Kikunae Ikeda]] (1864–1936)
*[[Masataka Ogawa]] (1865–1930)
*[[Hantaro Nagaoka]] (1865–1950)
*[[Fusakichi Omori]] (1868–1923)
*[[Shin Hirayama]] (1868–1945)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Hisashi Kimura]] (1870–1943)
*[[Akitsune Imamura]] (1870–1948)
*[[Kotaro Honda]] (1870–1954)
*[[Harutaro Murakami]] (1872–1947)
*[[Shinzo Shinjo]] (1873–1938)
*[[Umetaro Suzuki]] (1874–1943)
*[[Kiyotsugu Hirayama]] (1874–1943)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Suekichi Kinoshita]] (1877–1935)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Torahiko Terada]] (1878–1935)
*[[Masatoshi Ōkōchi]] (1878–1952)
*[[Keiichi Aichi]] (1880–1923)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Jun Ishiwara]] (1881–1947)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Yasuhiko Asahina]] (1881–1975)
*[[Satoyasu Iimori]] (1885–1982)
*[[Akira Ogata]] (1887–1978)
*[[Yoshio Nishina]] (1890–1951)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Tokushichi Mishima]] (1893–1975)
*[[Masuzo Shikata]] (1895–1964)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Hakaru Masumoto]] (1895–1987)
*[[Okuro Oikawa]] (1896–1970)
*[[File:Japanese Crest Jyuuroku Kiku.svg|18px|Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy]] [[Ozawa Yoshiaki]] (1899–1929)
{{div col end}}

===20th century===
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Mako (actor)|Mako]]
*[[Yoji Ito]]
*[[Satosi Watanabe]]
*[[Seiji Naruse]]
*[[Takeo Doi (aircraft designer)|Takeo Doi]]
*[[Tatsuo Hasegawa]]
*[[Kiro Honjo]]
*[[Jiro Horikoshi]]
*[[Hideo Itokawa]]
*[[Soichiro Honda]]
*[[Yanosuke Hirai]]
*[[Katsuji Miyazaki]]
*[[Shinroku Momose]]
*[[Ryoichi Nakagawa]]
*[[Jiro Tanaka]]
*[[Noriaki Fukuyama]]
*[[Eizaburo Nishibori]]
*[[Shin'ichirō Tomonaga]]
*[[Kiyoo Wadati]]
*[[Shokichi Iyanaga]]
*[[Hideki Yukawa]]
*[[Takeo Hatanaka]]
*[[Kazuo Kubokawa]]
*[[Tomizo Yoshida]]
*[[Kiyosi Itô]]
*[[Shoichi Sakata]]
*[[Yutaka Taniyama]]
*[[Kôdi Husimi]]
*[[Seishi Kikuchi]]
*[[Taketani Mitsuo]]
*[[Takahiko Yamanouchi]]
*[[Shigeyoshi Matsumae]]
*[[Shigeo Shingo]]
*[[Nobuchika Sugimura]]
*[[Jisaburo Ohwi]]
*[[Yo Takenaka]]
*[[Sanshi Imai]]
*[[Kikutaro Baba]]
*[[Katsuzo Kuronuma]]
*[[Yasunori Miyoshi]]
*[[Katsuma Dan]]
*[[Hiroshi Nakamura (biochemist)|Hiroshi Nakamura]]
*[[Ukichiro Nakaya]]
*[[Yusuke Hagihara]]
*[[Isao Imai (physicist)|Isao Imai]]
*[[Shintaro Uda]]
*[[Kinjiro Okabe]]
*[[Ozawa Yoshiaki]]
*[[Issac Koga|Issaku Koga]]
*[[Yuzuru Hiraga]]
*[[Jiro Horikoshi]]
*[[Yoshiro Okabe]]
*[[Motonori Matuyama]]
*[[Masauji Hachisuka]]
*[[Tokubei Kuroda]]
*Hikosaka Tadayoshi
*[[Bunsaku Arakatsu]]
*Shinji Maejima
*[[Takahito, Prince Mikasa]]
*[[Toshihiko Izutsu]]
*Kawachi Yoshihiro
*Katsutada Sezawa
*Katsura Kotaro
{{div col end}}

==Timeline (1926–1947)<!--needs to include events from before 1926-->==
*1926: [[Emperor Taishō]] dies (December 25).
*1927: [[Tanaka Giichi]] becomes prime minister (April 20).
*1928: [[Hirohito|Emperor Shōwa]] is formally installed as emperor (November 10).
*1929: [[Osachi Hamaguchi]] becomes prime minister (July 2).
*1930: Hamaguchi is wounded in an assassination attempt (November 14).
*1931: Hamaguchi dies and [[Wakatsuki Reijirō]] becomes prime minister (April 14). [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|Japan occupies Manchuria]] after the [[Mukden Incident]] (September 18). [[Inukai Tsuyoshi]] becomes prime minister (December 13) and increases funding for the military in China.
*1932: After an attack on Japanese monks in Shanghai (January 18), Japanese forces [[Shanghai Incident|shell the city]] (January 29). [[Manchukuo]] is established with [[Henry Pu Yi]] as emperor (February 29). Inukai is assassinated during [[May 15 Incident|a coup attempt]] and [[Saitō Makoto]] becomes prime minister (May 15). Japan is censured by the [[League of Nations]] (December 7).
*1933: Japan leaves the League of Nations (March 27).
*1934: [[Keisuke Okada]] becomes prime minister (July 8). Japan withdraws from the [[Washington Naval Treaty]] (December 29).
*1936: Coup attempt ([[February 26 Incident]]). [[Kōki Hirota]] becomes prime minister (March 9). Japan signs [[Anti-Comintern Pact|its first pact]] with Germany (November 25) and [[Qingdao#1938–1945|reoccupies]] [[Qingdao|Tsingtao]] (December 3). [[Mengjiang]] established in [[Inner Mongolia]].
*1937: [[Senjūrō Hayashi]] becomes prime minister (February 2). Prince [[Fumimaro Konoe]] becomes prime minister (June 4). [[Marco Polo Bridge Incident|Battle of Lugou Bridge]] (July 7). Japan [[Battle of Beiping–Tianjin|captures Beijing]] (July 31). Japanese troops [[Battle of Nanjing|occupy]] [[Nanjing]] (December 13), beginning the [[Nanjing Massacre]].
*1938: [[Battle of Taierzhuang]] (March 24). [[Guangzhou|Canton]] [[Canton Operation|falls]] to Japanese forces (October 21).
*1939: [[Hiranuma Kiichirō]] becomes prime minister (January 5). Japan annexs the [[Spratly Islands]] (March 30). [[Nobuyuki Abe|Abe Nobuyuki]] becomes prime minister (August 30).
*1940: [[Mitsumasa Yonai]] becomes prime minister (January 16). Konoe becomes prime minister for a second term (July 22). [[Hundred Regiments Offensive]] (August–September). Japan [[Japanese invasion of French Indochina|occupies French Indochina]] in the wake of the [[Battle of France|fall of Paris]], and signs the [[Tripartite Pact]] (September 27).
*1941: General [[Hideki Tojo]] becomes prime minister (October 18). [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Japanese naval forces attack Pearl Harbor]], Hawaii (December 7), prompting the United States to declare war on Japan (December 8). Japan [[Battle of Hong Kong|conquers Hong Kong]] (December 25). Japan annexs the [[Paracel Islands]] in 1941.
*1942: [[Battle of Ambon]] (January 30 – February 3). [[Battle of Palembang]] (February 13–15). [[Siege of Singapore|Singapore surrenders]] to Japan (February 15). [[Bombing of Darwin|Japan bombs Australia (February 19)]]. [[Indian Ocean raid]] (March 31 – April 10). [[Doolittle Raid]] on Tokyo (April 18). [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] (May 4–8). U.S. and [[Commonwealth of the Philippines|Filipino]] forces in the [[Battle of the Philippines (1942)]] surrender (May 8). Allied victory at the [[Battle of Midway]] (June 6). Allied victory in the [[Battle of Milne Bay]] (September 5). [[Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands]] (October 25–27).
*1943: Allied victory in the [[Battle of Guadalcanal]] (February 9). Allied victory at the [[Battle of Tarawa]] (November 23).
*1944: Tojo resigns and [[Kuniaki Koiso]] becomes prime minister (July 22). [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]] (October 23–26).
*1945: Allied bombers begin firebombing of major Japanese cities. Allied victory at the [[Battle of Iwo Jima]] (March 26). Admiral [[Kantarō Suzuki]] becomes prime minister (April 7). Allied victory at the [[Battle of Okinawa]] (June 21). The US drops [[atomic bomb]]s on [[Hiroshima]] (August 6) and [[Nagasaki]] (August 9), the Soviet Union and Mongolia invade [[Manchukuo]], Chinese [[Mengjiang]] ([[Inner Mongolia]]), and Japan (northern [[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]], [[South Sakhalin]] and the [[Kuril Islands]]) (August 9 – September 2). Japan surrenders (September 2): Allied occupation begins.
*1947: The [[Constitution of Japan]] comes into force.<ref name=ndlconstitution/>

==Emperors==
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Posthumous name]]<sup>1</sup>
! Given name<sup>2</sup>
! Childhood name<sup>3</sup>
! Period of reign
! Era name<sup>4</sup>
|-align="center"
| Meiji<br />({{nihongo2|明治天皇}})
| [[Emperor Meiji|Mutsuhito]]<br />({{nihongo2|睦仁}})
| Sachi-no-miya<br />({{nihongo2|祐宮}})
| 1868–1912<br />(1890–1912)<sup>5</sup>
| Meiji
|-align="center"
| Taisho<br />({{nihongo2|大正天皇}})
| [[Emperor Taishō|Yoshihito]]<br />({{nihongo2|嘉仁}})
| Haru-no-miya<br />({{nihongo2|明宮}})
| 1912–26
| Taishō
|-align="center"
| Showa<br />({{nihongo2|昭和天皇}})
| [[Hirohito]]<br />({{nihongo2|裕仁}})
| Michi-no-miya<br />({{nihongo2|迪宮}})
| 1926–89<sup>6</sup>
| Shōwa
|-style="background:#efefef;"
| colspan=6 style="font-size:smaller" | '''1''' Each posthumous name was given after the respective era names as [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] and [[Qing]] Dynasties of China.
|-style="background:#efefef;"
| colspan=6 style="font-size:smaller" | '''2''' The Japanese imperial family name has no surname or dynastic name.
|-style="background:#efefef;"
| colspan=6 style="font-size:smaller" | '''3''' Emperor Meiji was known only by the appellation ''Sachi-no-miya'' from his birth until November 11, 1860, when he was proclaimed heir apparent to [[Emperor Kōmei]] and received the personal name ''Mutsuhito''.
|-style="background:#efefef;"
| colspan=6 style="font-size:smaller" | '''4''' No multiple era names were given for each reign after Emperor Meiji.
|-style="background:#efefef;"
| colspan=6 style="font-size:smaller" | '''5''' Constitutionally
|-style="background:#efefef;"
| colspan=6 style="font-size:smaller" | '''6''' Constitutionally. The reign of the Shōwa Emperor in fact continued until 1989 since he did not abdicate after World War II. However, he lost his status as a living god and influence on politics after the 1947 constitution was adopted.
|}

==Emblems==

<gallery class="center">
File:Flag of Japan (1870–1999).svg|Flag of the Empire of Japan from 1870 to 1999
File:War flag of the Imperial Japanese Army (1868–1945).svg|War flag of the Imperial Japanese Army
File:Naval ensign of the Empire of Japan.svg|Naval ensign of the Empire of Japan
File:Flag of the Japanese Emperor.svg|Flag of the Japanese Emperor
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Japan|Politics}}
*[[Agriculture in the Empire of Japan]]
*[[Demography of the Empire of Japan]]
*[[Economy of the Empire of Japan]]
*[[Education in the Empire of Japan]]
*[[Emperor system]]
*[[Foreign commerce and shipping of the Empire of Japan]]
*[[German–Japanese industrial co-operation before and during World War II|Germany–Japan industrial co-operation before World War II]]
*[[Industrial production in Shōwa Japan]]
*[[Japanese nuclear weapons program|Japanese nuclear weapon program]]
*[[List of territories acquired by the Empire of Japan|List of territories occupied by Imperial Japan]]
*[[Political parties of the Empire of Japan]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Benesch |first=Oleg |date=December 2018 |title=Castles and the Militarisation of Urban Society in Imperial Japan |url=https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/133333/1/Benesch_Castles_and_the_Militarisation_of_Urban_Society_in_Imperial_Japan_TRHS_Accepted_Manuscript.pdf |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |language=en |volume=28 |pages=107–134 |doi=10.1017/S0080440118000063 |issn=0080-4401 |jstor=26862244 |s2cid=158403519}}
* {{Cite book |title=End of empire: 100 days in 1945 that changed Asia and the world |date=2016 |publisher=Nias Press |isbn=978-87-7694-183-3 |editor-last=Chandler |editor-first=David P. |series=Asia insights |location=Copenhagen |editor-last2=Cribb |editor-first2=Robert |editor-last3=Narangoa |editor-first3=Li}}
* {{Cite book |last=Drea |first=Edward J. |author-link=Edward J. Drea |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ih3PgAACAAJ |title=Japan's Imperial Army: its rise and fall, 1853-1945 |publisher=University press of Kansas |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7006-1663-3 |series=Modern war studies |location=Lawrence (Kan.)}}
* {{Cite book |last=Norimasa |first=Kanbashi |last2=Toshihiko |first2=Mōri |publisher=[[Kawade Shobō Shinsha]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-4-309-76041-4 |location=Tōkyō |language=ja |script-title=ja:図説 西郷隆盛と大久保利通 |trans-title=Illustrated life of [[Saigō Takamori]] and [[Ōkubo Toshimichi]]}}
*{{cite book |last=Hagiwara |first=Kōichi |year=2004 |script-title=ja:図説 西郷隆盛と大久保利通 |trans-title=Illustrated life of [[Saigō Takamori]] and [[Ōkubo Toshimichi]] |isbn=4-309-76041-4 |language=ja |publisher=[[Kawade Shobō Shinsha]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hotta |first=Eri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pOS_5EfYtEEC |title=Japan 1941: countdown to infamy |publisher=Vintage Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-307-73974-2 |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ion |first=Hamish |title=British Naval Strategy East of Suez, 1900–2000: Influences and Actions |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-135-76967-3 |location=London |chapter=The Idea of Naval Imperialism: The China Squadron and the Boxer Uprising}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jansen |first=Marius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A3_6lp8IOK8C |title=The Cambridge history of Japan |last2=Hall |first2=John Whitney |author-link2=John Whitney Hall |last3=Kanai |first3=Madoka |last4=Twitchett |first4=Denis |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-521-22352-2 |editor-last=Hall |editor-first=John Whitney |location=Cambridge, UK ; New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jansen |first=Marius B. |author-link=Marius Jansen |url=https://archive.org/details/makingofmodernja00jans |title=The making of modern Japan |publisher=[[Belknap Press of Harvard University Press]] |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-674-00334-7 |location=Cambridge, Mass |oclc=44090600 |url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book|first=Marius B. |last = Jansen|title=The Making of Modern Japan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3bf4g447YdcC|year=2002|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-03910-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jansen |first=Marius B. |author-link=Marius Jansen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwPxgoaNVWEC |title=The Emergence of Meiji Japan |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-521-48238-7 |editor-last=Jansen |editor-first=Marius B. |location=New York, NY}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hunter |first=Janet E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1MyP6i06z-4C |title=Concise dictionary of modern Japanese history |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-520-04557-6 |location=Berkeley}}
* {{Cite book |last=Keene |first=Donald |author-link=Donald Keene |url=https://archive.org/details/emperorofjapanme00keen |title=Emperor of Japan: Meiji and his world, 1852-1912 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-231-12341-9 |location=New York |url-access=registration}} [http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/46731178 OCLC 46731178] {{Webarchive |url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171010092101/http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/46731178 |date=October 10, 2017 }}
* {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_zgYqi6GRo |title=Teaching Japan Imperialism |date=6 May 2019 |last=Meyer |first=Carlton |publisher=Tales of the American Empire |via=[[YouTube]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Nish |first=Ian Hill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QJCybygKzJIC |title=Japanese foreign policy in the interwar period |publisher=[[Praeger Publishers]] |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-275-94791-0 |series=Praeger studies of foreign policies of the great powers |location=Westport, CT}}
* {{Cite book |last=Porter |first=Robert P. |title=Japan: The Rise of a Modern Power |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1918 |isbn=978-0-665-98994-0 |location=Oxford ; Toronto}}
* {{Cite book |last=Satow |first=Ernest Mason |author-link=Ernest Mason Satow |title=A Diplomat in Japan |publisher=[[Seeley, Service]] |year=1921 |location=London |oclc=1090000}}
* {{Cite book |last=Takemae |first=Eiji |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ba5hXsfeyhMC |title=The allied occupation of Japan |last2=Ricketts |first2=Robert |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8264-1521-9 |location=New York, NY}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tsutsui |first=William M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KC2T9HchWTEC |title=A companion to Japanese history |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4051-9339-9 |series=Blackwell companions to world history |location=Malden, Mass.}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Empire of Japan|position=left}}
{{S-start}}
{{s-bef|before = ''[[Edo period]]''<br />1603−1868}}
{{s-ttl|title  = [[History of Japan]]<br />'''Empire of Japan'''|years = 1868−1947}}
{{s-aft|after  = ''[[Post-war Japan]]''<br />1945–present<br />''[[Occupation of Japan]]''<br />1945–1952}}
{{S-end}}

{{Empire of Japan}}
{{World War I}}
{{World War II}}
{{Gaichi}}
{{Japanese occupations}}
{{States in the sphere of influence of Imperial Japan during World War II}}
{{Authority control}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire of Japan}}
[[Category:Empire of Japan| ]]
[[Category:Former countries in East Asia]]
[[Category:Former countries in Southeast Asia]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of Oceania]]
[[Category:Former countries in Japanese history]]
[[Category:Former empires in Asia|Japan]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of East Asia|Japan]]
[[Category:History of Japan by period]]
[[Category:Japanese nationalism]]
[[Category:19th century in Japan]]
[[Category:20th century in Japan]]
[[Category:1868 establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:1947 disestablishments in Japan]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1868]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1947]]
[[Category:1868 establishments in Asia]]
[[Category:1947 disestablishments in Asia]]
[[Category:Axis powers]]