The Empire of Japan (Japanese: 大日本帝国; said "Dai Nippon Teikoku"; officially Empire of Greater Japan or Greater Japanese Empire; also called Imperial Japan and the Japanese Empire) was a government of the areas ruled by Japan during the period from the Meiji Restoration to the Japanese defeat in World War II. The Emperors during this time, were Emperor Meiji (Mutsuhito), Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). It is considered to go from the year 1868 to 1945.