Claim: Japan contains Tokyo.

, or , was the 122nd Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession , reigning from February 3 , 1867 until his death on July 30 , 1912 . He presided over a time of rapid change in the Empire of Japan , as the nation quickly changed from a feudal state to a capitalist and imperial world power , characterized by the Japanese industrial revolution .   At the time of Meiji 's birth in 1852 , Japan was an isolated , pre-industrial , feudal country dominated by the Tokugawa shogunate and the daimyo , who ruled over the country 's more than 250 decentralized domains . By the time of his death in 1912 , Japan had undergone a political , social , and industrial revolution at home -LRB- See Meiji Restoration -RRB- and emerged as one of the great powers on the world stage . The New York Times summed up this transformation at his funeral in 1912 , with the words : `` the contrast between that which preceded the funeral car and that which followed it was striking indeed . Before it went old Japan ; after it came new Japan . ''   In Japan , the reigning Emperor is always referred to as `` The Emperor '' ; since the modern era , a deceased Emperor is referred to by a posthumous name , which is the name of the era coinciding with the Emperor 's reign . Having ruled during the Meiji period , the Emperor is thus posthumously known as `` the Meiji Emperor '' or simply `` Emperor Meiji '' . His personal name , which is not used in any formal or official context , except for his signature , was .