Although the empire is frequently referred to as `` the Japanese Empire '' or `` Imperial Japan '' in English , the literal translation is `` Great Empire of Japan '' ( Dai Nippon Teikoku ) .
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 .