Overview
The Showa era (1926–1989) was the 62-year reign of Emperor Hirohito, the Showa Emperor, and the longest era. Its early decades brought depression and rising militarism: the Manchurian Incident (1931) and the puppet state of Manchukuo, withdrawal from the League of Nations (1933), the February 26 coup attempt (1936), full-scale war with China from 1937, and the Pacific War (1941–45), which ended with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), Soviet entry into the war, and surrender — announced August 15 and signed September 2, 1945.
Key developments
Occupation reforms under GHQ included the 1947 Constitution — with popular sovereignty and Article 9 renouncing war — land reform, and women’s suffrage. Sovereignty returned with the San Francisco Peace Treaty (signed 1951, effective 1952). The economic miracle (c. 1955–1973) brought the Tokyo Olympics and the Shinkansen (1964), and by 1968 the world’s second-largest capitalist economy.
End and transition
The 1973 oil shock ended high growth, and the bubble economy of the late 1980s closed the era. Emperor Hirohito died on January 7, 1989.