Empire of Japan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Empire of Japan 大日本帝国 Dai Nippon Teikoku
1868–1947
Flag Imperial Seal
Motto:  (1940–1945) 八紘一宇 Hakkō ichiu ("The World Under One Roof")
Anthem:  君が代 Kimigayo ("His Imperial Majesty's Reign")
The Empire of Japan's territorial control at its peak during World War II (mid 1942):       Japan (1870–1895)       Colonies/Mandates (1895–1930)       Puppet states/Occupied territories (1930–1942)
Historical era	Meiji • Taishō • Shōwa
• Established	3 January 1868
• Disestablished	3 May 1947
Preceded by Succeeded by Tokugawa shogunate Occupied Japan

History of Japan

Paleolithic 35000–10000 BCE Jōmon period 10000–300 BCE Yayoi period 300 BCE–250 CE Kofun period 250–538 Asuka period 538–710 Nara period 710–794 Heian period 794–1185 Kamakura period 1185–1333 Kemmu restoration 1333–1336 Muromachi period 1333–1573 Nanboku-chō period 1336–1392 Sengoku period Azuchi-Momoyama period 1568–1603 Nanban trade Edo period 1603–1868 Late Tokugawa shogunate Meiji period 1868–1912 Meiji Restoration Taishō period 1912–1926 Japan in WWI Shōwa period 1926–1989 Japanese expansionism Occupied Japan Post-Occupation Japan Heisei period 1989-present

The Empire of Japan (in Japanese: 大日本帝国, pronounced Dai Nippon Teikoku) was the name for Japan's government and the lands it ruled from 1868 to 1945. This period began with the Meiji Restoration. It ended when Japan lost World War II.

During this time, Japan was led by three Emperors. They were Emperor Meiji (Mutsuhito), Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito), and Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito).

How Japan Became a World Power

In these years, Japan changed a lot. It went from being a country focused on farming to one with a strong industrial economy. Japan built a very powerful army and navy. This made Japan one of the strongest countries in the world.

Expanding Japan's Influence

As Japan grew stronger, it started to expand its control. Japanese forces began to invade and take over nearby countries. They wanted more resources for their growing industries.

Countries like Korea, Taiwan, and parts of China became part of Japan's empire. This expansion led to many conflicts.

The End of the Empire

The Empire of Japan fought a long war against the Allied nations in World War II. The war ended for Japan on September 2, 1945. This happened after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

After the war, the Allied forces occupied Japan. They helped Japan make many big changes. One major change was creating a new constitution. The Allies stayed in Japan and helped rebuild the country until the 1950s.

Images for kids

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  The Naval Battle of Hakodate, May 1869; in the foreground, Kasuga and Kōtetsu of the Imperial Japanese Navy

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  Prominent members of the Iwakura mission. Left to right: Kido Takayoshi, Yamaguchi Masuka, Iwakura Tomomi, Itō Hirobumi, Ōkubo Toshimichi

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  Emperor Meiji, the 122nd emperor of Japan

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  Ōura Church, Nagasaki

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  Baron Masuda Tarokaja, a member of the House of Peers (Kazoku). His father, Baron Masuda Takashi, was responsible for transforming Mitsui into a zaibatsu.

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  The Tokyo Industrial Exhibition, 1907 (Mitsubishi pavilion and Exhibition halls)

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  Marunouchi District in 1920, looking towards the Imperial Palace

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  A 1-yen banknote, 1881

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  Thomas Blake Glover was a Scottish merchant in Bakumatsu and received Japan's second highest order from Emperor Meiji in recognition of his contributions to Japan's industrialization.

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  Prince Katsura Tarō, thrice Prime Minister and the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan. Katsura commanded the IJA 3rd Division under his mentor, Field Marshal Yamagata Aritomo, during the First Sino-Japanese War.

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  Map of the Japanese Empire in 1895. This map was issued shortly after the Japanese invasion of Taiwan and is consequently one of the first Japanese maps to include Taiwan as a possession of Imperial Japan.

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  Marquess Komura Jutaro, 1911. Komura became Minister for Foreign Affairs under the first Katsura administration, and signed the Boxer Protocol on behalf of Japan.

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  French illustration of a Japanese assault on entrenched Russian troops during the Russo-Japanese War

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  Japanese riflemen during the Russo-Japanese War

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  Count Tadasu Hayashi was the resident minister to the United Kingdom. While serving in London from 1900, he worked to successfully conclude the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and signed on behalf of the government of Japan on January 30, 1902.

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  Port Arthur viewed from the Top of Gold Hill, after its capitulation in 1905. From left are the wrecks of Russian pre-dreadnought battleships Peresvet, Poltava, Retvizan, Pobeda and the protected cruisers Pallada

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  Emperor Taishō, the 123rd emperor of Japan

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  Topographic map of the Empire of Japan in November, 1918

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  Native Micronesian constables of Truk Island, circa 1930. Truk became a possession of the Empire of Japan under a mandate from the League of Nations following Germany's defeat in World War I.

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  Commanding Officers and Chiefs of Staff of the Allied Military Mission to Siberia, Vladivostok during the Allied Intervention

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  Groundbreaking ceremony of Ginza Line, the oldest subway line in Asia, 1925. Front row, right to left: Rudolf Briske, Noritsugu Hayakawa, Furuichi Kōi, Ryutaro Nomura.

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  Count Itagaki Taisuke is credited as being the first Japanese party leader and an important force for liberalism in Meiji Japan.

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  Count Katō Komei, the 14th Prime Minister of Japan from June 11, 1924, until his death on January 28, 1926

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  Tokyo Kaikan was requisitioned as the meeting place for members of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association (Taisei Yokusankai) in the early days.

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  Japanese Pan-Asian writer Shūmei Ōkawa

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  Rebel troops assembling at police headquarters during the February 26 Incident

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  A bank run during the Shōwa financial crisis, March 1927

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  National Diet Building, 1930

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  Japanese troops entering Shenyang, Northeast China during the Mukden Incident, 1931

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  The Japanese occupation of Peiping (Beijing) in China, on August 13, 1937. Japanese troops are shown passing from Peiping into the Tartar City through Zhengyangmen, the main gate leading onward to the palaces in the Forbidden City.

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  IJN Special Naval Landing Forces armed with the Type 11 Light Machine Gun during the Battle of Shanghai, 1937

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  Signing ceremony for the Axis Powers Tripartite Pact

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  Founding ceremony of the hakkō ichiu monument on April 3, 1940. It had Prince Chichibu's calligraphy of hakkō ichiu carved on its front side.

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  Prewar 10-sen Japanese stamp, illustrating the hakkō ichiu and the 2600th anniversary of the Empire

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  Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun presiding the celebration of the 2600th anniversary of mythical foundation of the Empire in November 1940

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  Japanese pilots who gathered under the flag of hakkō ichiu during the Pacific War

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  A map of the Japanese advance from 1937 to 1942

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  Victorious Japanese troops march through the city center of Singapore following the city's capture in February 1942 (Photo from the Imperial War Museum)

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  Imperial Japanese Army paratroopers are landing during the Battle of Palembang, February 13, 1942.

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  A model representing the attack by dive bombers from USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise on the Japanese aircraft carriers Sōryū, Akagi and Kaga in the morning of June 4, 1942, during the Battle of Midway

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  Group of Type 2 Ka-Mi tanks on board of 2nd class transporter of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1944–1945

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  The rebuilt battlecruiser Haruna sank at her moorings in the naval base of Kure on July 24 during a series of bombings.

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  The Japanese archipelago and the Korean Peninsula in 1945 (National Geographic)

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  A drawing depicting a speech in the Imperial Japanese Diet on November 1, 1945, the end of the Second World War. In the foreground there are several Allied soldiers watching the proceedings from the back of the balcony.

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  From left to right: Marshal Admiral Heihachirō Tōgō (1848–1934), Field Marshal Oku Yasukata (1847–1930), Marshal Admiral Yoshika Inoue (1845–1929), Field Marshal Kageaki Kawamura (1850–1926), at the unveiling ceremony of bronze statue of Field Marshal Iwao Ōyama

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  Population density map of the Empire of Japan (1920).

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  Population density map of the Empire of Japan (1940).

See also

In Spanish: Imperio del Japón para niños