when did japan first emerge as a modern empire
Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan (大日本帝國, Dai Nippon Teikoku, literally meaning "Empire of Great Japan")[9] was the historical nation-state[nb 2] and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the enactment of the 1947 constitution of modern Japan.[1]
Industrial Revolution The industrial revolution began about 1870 as Meiji period leaders decided to catch up with the West. The government built railroads, improved roads, and inaugurated a land reform programme to prepare the country for further development. It inaugurated a new Western-based education system for all young people, sent thousands of students to the United States and Europe, and hired more than 3,000 Westerners to teach modern science, mathematics, technology, and foreign languages in Japan (Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan).