National Flag since 1868
Naval and War Flag since 1889
Official Name: The Great Japanese Empire
Emperor: Hirohito
Capital: Tokyo
The emperor of Japan during this time period was Hirohito, also known as "the Showa Emperor", and thus this era is known as "Showa Japan". The era-name "Showa" means "enlightened peace."
Politics[]
Hirohito was the third emporer of the Empire of Japan. During this era, the nation was becoming more totalitarian, militaristic and expansionist.
Pop Culture[]
Blood Type Personalities - Following insurgencies in Japanese-occupied Taiwain in 1930 and 1931, Takeji Furukawa published a study linking the revolutions to genetically-based traits, noting that nearly half of the revolutionaries had blood type O. This launched the fad of determining one's personality based on blood type. Although it never truly went away, it fizzled out by the end of the decade when it became clear that the studies were not very scientific.
Fashion[]
Many Japanese were increasingly adopting Western fashions.
Concurrently, symbolic Katanas came into vogue to reflect the new policy of "Serve the Army and the Emperor."