Meiji was born in 1852 and died in 1912. He was the emperor of Japan from 1867 to 1912. He was born Prince Mustachio and the 122nd emperor in the traditional count, whose accession to the throne marked the beginning of a national revolution known as the Meiji Restoration. In 1868, soon after Prince Mustachio became emperor, taking the name Meiji ("enlightened government"), radical nationalist groups working for a stronger Japan united under the emperor, and toppled the Tokugawa shogun ate, replacing it with a unified administration headed by the sovereign. As part of the new regime's policies, Meiji became the first emperor to live in Tokyo rather than Kyoto, the traditional imperial capital. Although the emperor in time became an influential force in the government, he functioned mainly as a symbol of national unity, leaving the actual business of governing to his ministers. His presence was essential to the new government as a source of legitimacy, as a sanction for its transformation of Japan, and as the centre of the authoritarian cult of State Shinto which it introduced. During his reign, Japan became an industrial power able to compete with the nations of the West. The Meiji shrine in the centre of Tokyo was built in his honour....
