Empire of Japan

Not to be confused with Japanese colonial empire.

"The Japanese Empire" redirects here. For the book by Sarah C. Paine, see The Japanese Empire (book).

Empire of Japan 大日本帝國 Dai Nippon Teikoku or Dai Nihon Teikoku
1868–1947
Flag Imperial Seal
Motto:  (1868–1912) 五箇条の御誓文 Gokajō no Goseimon "The Oath in Five Articles"
Anthem:  (1869–1945) 君が代 Kimigayo "His Imperial Majesty's Reign" [1] [2] [lower-alpha 1] noicon
The Empire of Japan (1910-1945) Relative de jure map showing undisputed Japanese territories recognized by Japanese law and the international community (Taiwan [lower-alpha 3] , Korea, Karafuto, present-day Japan, and Kuril)
Areas de facto controlled by Japan and its army at peak in World War II (1942):    Present-day Japan    Kuril/Korea/Taiwan/Karafuto    Puppet states/Occupied territories/Kwantung/Mantetsu/Concessions Green borders: South Seas
Status	Sovereign state (1868−1945) Military occupation (1945–1947)
Capital	Kyoto (1868–1869) [3] Tokyo City (1869–1943) Tokyo (1943–1947)
Largest city	Tokyo City (1868–1943) Tokyo (1943–1947)
Official languages	Japanese
Recognised regional languages	Hokkien Mandarin Hakka Korean
Religion	De jure: Secular state De facto: State Shinto (state ideology) [lower-alpha 4]
Government	Unitary absolute monarchy (1868–1889) [7] under Daijō-kan [7] (1868–1885) Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy (1889–1947) [8] Under military occupation (1945–1947)
Emperor
• 1868–1912	Meiji
• 1912–1926	Taishō
• 1926–1947	Shōwa
Prime Minister
• 1885–1888 (first)	Itō Hirobumi
• 1946–1947 (last)	Shigeru Yoshida
Legislature	None (rule by decree) (1868–1871) House of Peers (1871–1889) Imperial Diet (since 1889)
•  Upper house	House of Peers (1889–1947)
•  Lower house	House of Representatives (from 1890)
Historical era	Meiji  • Taishō  • Shōwa
•  Meiji Restoration	3 January 1868 [9]
•  Meiji Constitution	11 February 1889
•  First Sino-Japanese War	25 July 1894
•  Russo-Japanese War	8 February 1904
•  World War I	23 August 1914
•  Mukden Incident	18 September 1931
•  Second Sino-Japanese War	7 July 1937
•  Founding of the IRAA	12 October 1940
•  World War II	7 December 1941
•  Surrender of Japan	2 September 1945
•  Reconstituted	3 May 1947 [8]
Area
1938 [10]	1,984,000 km2 (766,000 sq mi)
1942 [11]	7,400,000 km2 (2,900,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1920	77,700,000 [12] a
• 1940	105,200,000 [12] b
Currency	Japanese yen Korean yen Taiwanese yen
Preceded by Succeeded by Tokugawa shogunate Republic of Ezo Occupied Japan Japan
56.0 million lived in the naichi. [12] 73.1 million lived in the naichi. [12]

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

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. ^[60] 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 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 American president Theodore Roosevelt. As a result, Russia lost the part of Sakhalin Island south of 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 annex Korea outright in 1910.

Annexation of Korea

Main article: 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. ^[61]

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 extraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens and opened three Korean ports to Japanese trade. The rights granted to Japan under this unequal treaty, ^[62] were similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of Commodore Perry. ^[62] Japanese involvement in Korea increased during the 1890s, a period of political upheaval.

Korea (under the Korean Empire) was de facto 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: 일제 강점기; Ilje gangjeomgi, Hanja: 日帝强占期). Other terms include "Japanese Imperial Period" (Hangul: 일제시대, Ilje sidae, Hanja: 日帝時代) or "Japanese administration" (Hangul: 왜정, Wae jeong, Hanja: 倭政). In Japan, a more common description is "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)

Emperor Taishō, the 123rd emperor of Japan

Main article: Taishō period

World War I

Main articles: Japan during World War I, Japanese entry into World War I, and Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I

See also: South Seas Mandate

Japan entered World War I on the side of the 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 Province as well as the Marianas, 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 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

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

Main articles: Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, Siberian Intervention, and Japanese intervention in Siberia

After the fall of the Tsarist regime and the later provisional regime in 1917, the new Bolshevik government signed a separate peace treaty with Germany. After this, various factions that succeeded the Russian Empire fought amongst themselves in 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 Japanese troops under Chief of Staff Yui Mitsue had occupied all ports and major towns in the Russian Maritime Provinces and eastern Siberia. Japan received 765 Polish orphans from Siberia. ^{[63] [64]}

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 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 million yen.

"Taishō Democracy"

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 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 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 massacre of Korean residents.

The election of 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 million to 12.5 million. ^[65]

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 as the first person elected from a colonial background.^{[ clarification needed ] [66]} In 1935, democracy was introduced in Taiwan and in response to Taiwanese public opinion, local assemblies were established. ^[67] In 1942, 38 colonial people were elected to local assemblies of the Japanese homeland. ^[66]

Unstable coalitions and divisiveness in the Diet led the Kenseikai (憲政会Constitutional Government Association) and the Seiyū Hontō (政友本党True Seiyūkai) to merge as the Rikken Minseitō (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 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)

Emperor Shōwa during an army inspection on January 8, 1938

Main article: Shōwa period

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 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, Taisei Yokusankai, Imperial Youth Corps, Keishichō (to 1945), Shintoist Rites Research Council, Treaty Faction, Fleet Faction, and Volunteer Fighting Corps.

Nationalism and decline of democracy

Main articles: Japanese nationalism, Statism in Shōwa Japan, Imperial Way Faction, May 15 Incident, and February 26 Incident

Further information: 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).

Rebel troops assembling at police headquarters during the 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. Totalitarianism, 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. ^[68]

With the launching of the 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, very similar to fascism, was known as "Shōwa Statism".^{[ citation needed ]}

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 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. ^[69]

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

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) 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. ^[70]

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 articles: Hakkō ichiu, National Spiritual Mobilization Movement, and World War II

Prewar expansionism

Main articles: Japanese nationalism and Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

Manchuria

Main articles: Mukden Incident, Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and Pacification of Manchukuo

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 Manchus from the Chinese, although the majority of the population were Han Chinese as a result of the large scale settlement of Chinese in Manchuria in the 19th century. Japan then established a puppet state called Manchukuo (Chinese :滿洲國), and installed the last Manchu Emperor of China, Puyi, as the official head of state. 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 (Chinese :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 North America and 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. ^[71] With rich natural resources and labor force in Manchuria, army-owned corporations turned Manchuria into a solid material support machine of the Japanese Army. ^[72]

Second Sino-Japanese War

Main article: Second Sino-Japanese War

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 united front. On December 13 of that same year, the Nationalist capital 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 million Chinese, mostly civilians, were killed during World War II. 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 articles: Battle of Lake Khasan, Battles of Khalkhin Gol, and 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 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 articles: Tripartite Pact and Axis powers

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 China in accordance with the spirit of racial equality on which Japan had insisted for many years. ^{[73] [74]}

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 materials 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 Germany and 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 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 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. ^[75] 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 , which had a great influence in post-war Japanese intellectual circles. ^[76] The early 20th century historian Tsuda Sōkichi, who put forward the then-controversial theory that the Kojiki 's accounts were not based on history (as Edo period kokugaku and State Shinto ideology believed them to be) but rather propagandistic myths concocted to explain and legitimize the rule of the imperial (Yamato) dynasty, also saw Susanoo as a negative figure, arguing that he was created to serve as the rebellious opposite of the imperial ancestress Amaterasu. ^[77] 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 Kojiki was created by the ruling class to make people believe that the class was precious because they originated in the heavenly realm. ^{[78] [79]}

World War II (1941–1945)

Main articles: Japan during World War II and Pacific War

Map of Japanese conquests from 1937 to 1942

On November 5, 1941, Yamamoto in his "Top Secret Operation Order no. 1" issued to the Combined Fleet, the Empire of Japan must drive out Britain and America from Greater East Asia and to hasten the settlement of the China, whereas should the eventuality that Britain and America would really be driven out from the Philippines and Dutch East Indies, an independent, self-supporting economic entity will be firmly established – mirroring the principle of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in another personification. ^[80]

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 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 Theater in full force, thereby bringing the United States to World War II on the side of the 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. ^[81]

Japanese conquests

Victorious Japanese troops marching through the city center of Singapore following the 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 British Hong Kong, British Malaya and the Philippines. Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese on December 25. In Malaya the Japanese overwhelmed an Allied army composed of British, Indian, Australian and Malay forces. The Japanese were quickly able to advance down the Malayan Peninsula, forcing the Allied forces to retreat towards Singapore. The Allies lacked aircover and tanks; the Japanese had complete air superiority. The 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. ^[82]

In the Philippines, the Japanese pushed the combined American-Filipino force towards the Bataan Peninsula and later the island of Corregidor. By January 1942, General Douglas MacArthur and President Manuel L. Quezon were 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, Singapore, due to the overwhelming superiority of Japanese forces and encirclement tactics, fell to the Japanese, causing the largest 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, defeating the Dutch forces. ^[83] However, Allied sabotage had made it difficult for the Japanese to restore oil production to its pre-war peak. ^[84] The Japanese then consolidated their lines of supply through capturing key islands of the Pacific, including Guadalcanal.

Tide turns

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

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 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. ^[85] 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". ^[86]

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 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. ^[84] 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 on October 20, 1944. The Palawan massacre was committed by the imperial army against Filipinos in December 1944. ^[87] 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 articles: Surrender of Japan, Potsdam Declaration, and Victory over Japan Day

The rebuilt battlecruiser Haruna sank at her moorings in the naval base of Kure on July 24 during a 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 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 campaign by having B-29 Superfortress bombers in nighttime low altitude incendiary raids, burning Japanese cities in an effort to pulverize Japan's war industry and 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 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 weapons 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 ^[88] and gain some protection, rather than face simultaneous Soviet invasion as well as defeat by the US and its allies. Likewise, the 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 ]} 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 ended World War II after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the declaration of war by the Soviet Union and subsequent 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 article: Occupation of Japan

A drawing depicting a speech in the Imperial Japanese Diet on November 1, 1945, following the 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 de-militarize 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 1947 Constitution of Japan. This new constitution was imposed by the United States under the supervision of MacArthur. MacArthur included Article 9 which changed Japan into a pacifist country. ^[89]

Upon adoption of the 1947 constitution, the Empire of Japan dissolved and became simply the modern state of Japan, and all the territories such as Taiwan, Korea, Karafuto, and Kuril were lost. With the formal surrender, Japan was much reduced to the territories as it is today; mostly the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. The Kuril Islands historically belonged to Japan ^[90] and were first inhabited by the Ainu people before coming under the control of the Matsumae clan during the Edo Period. ^[91] 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 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. ^[92]

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:

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.

For historian John W. Dower:

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. ^[93]

Influential personnel

Main article: 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 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 Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa
• HIH Prince Kitashirakawa Naruhisa
• HIH Prince 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

• 
  Prince Itō Hirobumi
• 
  His Imperial Highness Prince Kitashirakawa Naruhisa, the 3rd head of a collateral branch of the Japanese Imperial Family
• 
  His Imperial Highness Marquess Michitsune Koga, a member of the Imperial Family, descending from Emperor Murakami. He was the former Governor of Tokyo Prefecture.
• 
  His Imperial Highness Count Nagayoshi Ogasawara, a member of the Imperial Family

Diplomats

Early period

• Marquess Komura Jutarō: Boxer Protocol & 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 Kingdom of Hawaii
• Viscount Ishii Kikujiro: Lansing–Ishii Agreement

World War II

• Baron Hiroshi Ōshima: Japanese ambassador to Nazi Germany

Military

Main article: Armed Forces of the Empire of Japan

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

• 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 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, 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 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 Tōjō: Prime Minister of Japan
• General Yoshijirō Umezu: Chief of Staff of the Army

Imperial Japanese Navy

Early period

• 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 ^[94]
• Rear Admiral Viscount Morio Matsudaira (1878–1944)

Demographics

Main article: Demography of the Empire of Japan

Population density map of the naichi (1920)

Population density map of the naichi (1940)

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Empire of Japan

Education

Main article: Education in the Empire of Japan

Notable scholars/scientists

19th century

• 
  Hirase Sakugorō (1856–1925) was a botanist, who won the Imperial Prize in 1912.
• 
  Ōtsuki Fumihiko (1847–1928), editor of two well-known Japanese-language dictionaries, Genkai (言海, "sea of words", 1891) and its successor Daigenkai (大言海, "great sea of words", 1932–1937)
• 
  Baron Keisuke Ito (1803–1901) was a biologist and a professor at the Imperial University in Tokyo (University of Tokyo).
• 
  Kiyoo Wadati (1902–1995) was a seismologist, who won the Imperial Prize in 1932.
• 
  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

• 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)
• Kyōsuke Kindaichi (1882–1971)
• Tetsuji Morohashi (1883–1982)
• Tsuruko Haraguchi (1886–1915)
• Shinobu Orikuchi (1887–1953)
• Zenchū Nakahara (1890–1964)

Medical scientists, biologists, evolutionary theorists, and geneticists

• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• Sunao Tawara (1873–1952)
• Bunzō Hayata (1874–1934)
• Ryukichi Inada (1874–1950)
• Kensuke Mitsuda (1876–1964)
• Hideyo Noguchi (1876–1928)
• Fukushi Masaichi (1878–1956)
• Takaoki Sasaki (1878–1966)
• 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 (1892–1981)
• Hitoshi Kihara (1893–1986)
• Satyu Yamaguti (1894–1976)
• Kinichiro Sakaguchi (1897–1994)
• Minoru Shirota (1899–1982)
• Genkei Masamune (1899–1993)

Inventors, industrialists, engineers

• 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 (1887–1982)
• Yasujiro Niwa (1893–1975)
• Tokuji Hayakawa (1893–1980)
• Kōnosuke Matsushita (1894–1989)
• Kinjiro Okabe (1896–1984)
• Toshiwo Doko (1896–1988)
• Kenjiro Takayanagi (1899–1990)

Philosophers, educators, mathematicians, and polymaths

• Inoue Enryō (1799–1881)
• Nishimura Shigeki (1828–1902)
• Nishi Amane (1829–1897)
• Kikuchi Dairoku (1855–1917)
• 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)
• Sōichi Kakeya (1886–1947)

Chemists, physicists, and geologists

• 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)
• 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)
• Suekichi Kinoshita (1877–1935)
• Torahiko Terada (1878–1935)
• Masatoshi Ōkōchi (1878–1952)
• Keiichi Aichi (1880–1923)
• Jun Ishiwara (1881–1947)
• Yasuhiko Asahina (1881–1975)
• Satoyasu Iimori (1885–1982)
• Akira Ogata (1887–1978)
• Yoshio Nishina (1890–1951)
• Tokushichi Mishima (1893–1975)
• Masuzo Shikata (1895–1964)
• Hakaru Masumoto (1895–1987)
• Okuro Oikawa (1896–1970)
• Ozawa Yoshiaki (1899–1929)

20th century

• Mako
• Yoji Ito
• Satosi Watanabe
• Seiji Naruse
• 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
• Ukichiro Nakaya
• Yusuke Hagihara
• Isao Imai
• Shintaro Uda
• Kinjiro Okabe
• Ozawa Yoshiaki
• 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

Timeline (1926-1947)

• 1926: Emperor Taishō dies (December 25).
• 1927: Tanaka Giichi becomes prime minister (April 20).
• 1928: 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). 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 shell the city (January 29). Manchukuo is established with Henry Pu Yi as emperor (February 29). Inukai is assassinated during 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 its first pact with Germany (November 25) and reoccupies Tsingtao (December 3). Mengjiang established in Inner Mongolia.
• 1937: Senjūrō Hayashi becomes prime minister (February 2). Prince Fumimaro Konoe becomes prime minister (June 4). Battle of Lugou Bridge (July 7). Japan captures Beijing (July 31). Japanese troops occupy Nanjing (December 13), beginning the Nanjing Massacre.
• 1938: Battle of Taierzhuang (March 24). Canton falls to Japanese forces (October 21).
• 1939: Hiranuma Kiichirō becomes prime minister (January 5). 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 occupies French Indochina in the wake of the fall of Paris, and signs the Tripartite Pact (September 27).
• 1941: General Hideki Tojo becomes prime minister (October 18). Japanese naval forces attack Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (December 7), prompting the United States to declare war on Japan (December 8). Japan conquers Hong Kong (December 25).
• 1942: Battle of Ambon (January 30 – February 3). Battle of Palembang (February 13–15). Singapore surrenders to Japan (February 15). 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 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 bombs on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), the Soviet Union and Mongolia invade Japanese colonies of Manchukuo, Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia), northern 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. ^[8]

Emperors

Posthumous name 1	Given name2	Childhood name3	Period of reign	Era name4
Meiji (明治天皇)	Mutsuhito (睦仁)	Sachi-no-miya (祐宮)	1868–1912 (1890–1912)5	Meiji
Taisho (大正天皇)	Yoshihito (嘉仁)	Haru-no-miya (明宮)	1912–26	Taishō
Showa (昭和天皇)	Hirohito (裕仁)	Michi-no-miya (迪宮)	1926–896	Shōwa
1 Each posthumous name was given after the respective era names as Ming and Qing Dynasties of China.
2 The Japanese imperial family name has no surname or dynastic name.
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.
4 No multiple era names were given for each reign after Emperor Meiji.
5 Constitutionally
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

• 
  Flag of the Empire of Japan from 1870 to 1999
• 
  War flag of the Imperial Japanese Army
• 
  Naval ensign of the Empire of Japan
• 
  Flag of the Japanese Emperor

See also

• Japan portal
• Politics portal

• 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
• Germany–Japan industrial co-operation before World War II
• Industrial production in Shōwa Japan
• Japanese nuclear weapon program
• List of territories occupied by Imperial Japan
• Political parties of the Empire of Japan

Notes

1. Modified version used in 1880–1945.
3. Japan annexed the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands into Japanese Taiwan in 1941, but this was never recognized by the international law and their sovereign status was disputed
4. Although the Empire of Japan officially had no state religion, ^{[4] [5]} 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." ^[6]
5. Japanese: 大日本帝国, Dai Nippon Teikoku or Dai Nihon Teikoku
6. "During the second half of the nineteenth century, Japan's nation-builders forged the Meiji nation-state out of an older, heterogeneous Tokugawa realm, integrating semi-autonomous domain states into a unified political community." ^[13] "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." ^[14]
7. 富国強兵, "Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Armed Forces"
8. 殖産興業, "Promote Industry"
9. During a recess, Saigō, who had his troops outside, "remarked that it would take only one short sword to settle the discussion". ^[25] The word used for "dagger" was tantō.

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External links

• Media related to Empire of Japan at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Edo period 1603−1868

History of Japan Empire of Japan 1868−1947

Succeeded by Post-war Japan 1945–present Occupation of Japan 1945–1952

35°40′57″N139°45′10″E / 35.68250°N 139.75278°E / 35.68250; 139.75278