<Tr> <Th> Religion </Th> <Td> Shinto </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Signature </Th> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <P> Emperor Meiji (明治 天皇, Meiji - tennō, November 3, 1852--July 30, 1912), or Meiji the Great (明治 大帝, Meiji - taitei), was the 122nd Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from February 3, 1867 until his death on July 30, 1912 . He presided over a time of rapid change in the Empire of Japan, as the nation quickly changed from an isolationist feudal state to a capitalist and imperial world power, characterized by the Japanese industrial revolution . </P> <P> At the time of Emperor Meiji's birth in 1852, Japan was an isolated, pre-industrial, feudal country dominated by the Tokugawa shogunate and the daimyōs, who ruled over the country's more than 250 decentralized domains . By the time of his death in 1912, Japan had undergone a political, social, and industrial revolution at home and emerged as one of the great powers on the world stage . The New York Times summed up this transformation at his funeral in 1912 with the words: "the contrast between that which preceded the funeral car and that which followed it was striking indeed . Before it went old Japan; after it came new Japan ." </P>

Who was the japanese emperor that presided over japan's transition towards modernization