<Li> Thailand (1941) </Li> <Li> Asia - Pacific (1941 - 1945) </Li> <P> The Empire of Japan (大 日本 帝國, Dai Nippon Teikoku, literally meaning "Empire of Great Japan") was the historical nation - state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution of modern Japan . </P> <P> Japan's rapid industrialization and militarization under the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei (富國 強兵, "Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Armed Forces") led to its emergence as a world power and the establishment of a colonial empire following the First Sino - Japanese War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Russo - Japanese War, and World War I. Economic and political turmoil in the 1920s led to the rise of militarism, eventually culminating in Japan's membership in the Axis alliance and the conquest of a large part of the Asia - Pacific in World War II . </P>

When did japan first emerge as a modern empire