1896 in Japan
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{{Year in region
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Events in the year 1896 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 29 (明治29年) in the Japanese calendar.
Incumbents
- Monarch: Emperor Meiji{{cite web |title=Meiji {{!}} emperor of Japan |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Meiji |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=27 March 2019 |language=en}}
- Prime Minister:
- Itō Hirobumi (until August 31)
- Kuroda Kiyotaka (acting) (August 31 – September 18)
- Matsukata Masayoshi (from September 18)
=Governors=
- Aichi Prefecture: Tokito Konkyo
- Akita Prefecture: Yasuhiko Hirayama then Saburo Iwao
- Aomori Prefecture: Masa Sawa then Naomasa Maki
- Ehime Prefecture: Chang Masaya Komaki
- Fukui Prefecture: Kunizo Arakawa
- Fukushima Prefecture: Yasutaro Hara then Ogura Nobuchika then Akiyama
- Gifu Prefecture: Sukeo Kabayama
- Gunma Prefecture: Motootoko Nakamura then Abe Hiroshi then Masataka Ishizata
- Hiroshima Prefecture: Nabeshima Miki then Orita Heinai
- Ibaraki Prefecture: Egi Kazuyuki then Motohiro Onoda
- Iwate Prefecture: Ichizo Hattori
- Kagawa Prefecture: Ichizo Fukano then Tsunenori Tokuhisa
- Kochi Prefecture: Ishida Eikichi then Hiroshi Shikakui
- Kumamoto Prefecture: Matsudaira Masanao then Kanetake Oura
- Kyoto Prefecture: Baron Nobumichi Yamada
- Mie Prefecture: Terumi Tanabe
- Miyagi Prefecture: Terumi Tanabe
- Nagano Prefecture: Takasaki Chikaaki
- Niigata Prefecture: Baron Seung Zhi Kuwata
- Oita Prefecture: Tameharu Yamada then Yasuhiko Hirayama
- Okinawa Prefecture: Shigeru Narahara
- Osaka Prefecture: Utsumi Tadakatsu
- Saga Prefecture: Takeuchi
- Saitama Prefecture: Teru Tanabe then Tomi Senketaka
- Shiname Prefecture: Michio Sokabe
- Tochigi Prefecture: Egi Kazuyuki
- Tokyo: Miura Yasushi then Marquis Michitsune Koga
- Toyama Prefecture: Tokuhisa Tsunenori then Ando Kinsuke
- Yamagata Prefecture: Shuichi Kinoshita
Events
- June 15 – Sanriku earthquake: One of the most destructive seismic events in Japanese history. The 8.5 magnitude earthquake occurred at 19:32 (local time), approximately {{convert|166|km}} off the coast of Iwate Prefecture, Honshu. It resulted in two tsunamis which destroyed about 9,000 homes and caused at least 22,000 deaths. The waves reached a record height of {{convert|38.2|m}}; more than a meter lower than those created after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake which triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.{{cite web|url=http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8274519/experts-say-japanese-tsunami-over-40m-high|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722104509/http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8274519/experts-say-japanese-tsunami-over-40m-high|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-07-22|title=Experts say Japanese tsunami over 40m high|publisher=Nine News| date= 2011-07-19}}
- December 28 – Nippon Flower Mills (Nipun) was founded.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}
- Unknown date – Penta-Ocean construction company founded{{cite book |last1=Carr |first1=Jennifer L. |title=Major Companies of The Far East and Australasia 1991/92: Volume 2: East Asia |date=2012 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-94-011-3010-3 |page=231 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9wPoCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA231 |language=en}}
- Unknown date – Kotaro Mikamo reports the first results of a double-eyelid procedure for aesthetic purposes.{{Cite journal |last=Sergile |first=Suzanne L. |last2=Obata |first2=Kazuo |date=March 1997 |title=Mikamo's Double-Eyelid Operation: The Advent of Japanese Aesthetic Surgery |url=https://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/Citation/1997/03000/Mikamo_s_Double_Eyelid_Operation__The_Advent_of.8.aspx |journal=Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery |language=en-US |volume=99 |issue=3 |pages=662 |issn=0032-1052}}
Births
- January 1 – Hankyu Sasaki, admiral (d. 1971)
- April 22 – Chishō Takaoka, geisha, writer, and nun (d. 1994)
- May 11 – Toshiko, Princess Yasu, daughter of Emperor Meiji (d. 1978)
- July 28 – Takeru Inukai, politician and novelist (d. 1960)
- August 27 – Kenji Miyazawa, author and poet (d. 1933)
- November 13 – Nobusuke Kishi, politician and Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1987){{cite web |title=Kishi Nobusuke {{!}} prime minister of Japan |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kishi-Nobusuke |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=17 June 2020 |language=en}}
Deaths
- February 28 – Tazawa Inabune, writer (b. 1874)
- November 23 – Ichiyō Higuchi, writer (b. 1872)