The Taishō era is the name given to the rule of Yoshihito, who ruled Japan from July 30, 1912, to December 25, 1926, and was posthumously given the title Emperor Taishō. This era was followed by the Shōwa era, which lasted until January 7, 1989, and was preceded by the Meiji era, which ran between January 25, 1868, and July 30, 1912. The Meiji era marked a time of increasing contact between Japan and the Western powers. Before this era, Japan was an isolated, feudal society where the shogunate—regional, military lords who were the highest-ranking samurai—held most governing power, as opposed to the emperor. In this era, Emperor Meiji sought to reestablish the power of the emperor, largely through a governmental restructuring—inspired by western governments—and other modernization efforts. The Constitution of the Empire of Japan, enacted on November 29, 1890, made the government a mix between an absolute monarchy and a constitutional government inspired by representative democracies. Japan experienced its own Industrial Revolution that overhauled education, infrastructure, production, and technology.

This legacy extended to the Taishō era. Advocacy for social causes like welfare and workers’ rights grew in popularity, and the economy boomed. Much of this growth was at the expense of other East Asian countries like China.