The Empire of Japan (大日本帝国; lit. Greater Japanese Empire), also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the period of Japanese history spanning 79 years, starting with the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868, and ending with ratification of the Constitution of Japan on 3 May 1947.
It began following the Boshin War, or Japanese Civil War, which ended with the restoration of power to the emperor from the shogun. Emperor Meiji became the first emperor of modern Japan.
In combination with great military victories in the Russo-Japanese war, the crowning of Emperor Taisho and democratic reforms, Japan underwent a period of large-scale industrialization and militarization, often regarded as the fastest modernization of any country to date. This ushered in the "Taisho Democracy," a period of relative peace and prosperity that helped Japan reach the world's stage.
However, Economic and political turmoil in the 1920s, worsened by earthquakes and the the Great Depression, caused democratic backlighting and a dissent into militarism and, eventually, the Pacific War. Though elements of wartime Imperial Japan closely resembled fascism, there was no equivalent to a fascist leader. With intense intrastate rivalries hampering its efforts, Imperial Japan would eventually face defeat and dissolution, which marked the end of the empire and World War 2 as a whole.
