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1919 in Japan

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{{Year in Japan|1919}}

Events in the year 1919 in Japan. It corresponds to Taishō 8 (大正8年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

  • Emperor: Taishō{{cite web |title=Taishō {{!}} emperor of Japan |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Taisho |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=27 March 2019 |language=en}}
  • Prime Minister: Hara Takashi

=Governors=

Events

  • January 8 – The Maeda Corporation is established.
  • January 18 – The Paris Peace Conference opens at the Palace of Versailles, France.{{cite book|first=Margaret|last=MacMillan|title=Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World|year=2002|publisher=Random House}} Japan sent a large delegation headed by the former Prime Minister, Marquess Saionji Kinmochi. It was originally one of the "big five" but relinquished that role because of its slight interest in European affairs. Instead it focused on two demands: the inclusion of their racial equality proposal in the League's Covenant and Japanese territorial claims with respect to former German colonies, namely Shantung (including Kiaochow) and the Pacific islands north of the Equator (the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Mariana Islands, and the Carolines). Makino Nobuaki was technically de facto chief while Saionji's role was symbolic and limited by his ill health.
  • February 13 – Japan proposed the inclusion of a "racial equality clause" in the Covenant of the League of Nations as an amendment to Article 21.{{cite journal | last1 = Gordon Lauren | first1 = Paul | year = 1978 | title = Human Rights in History: Diplomacy and Racial Equality at the Paris Peace Conference | journal = Diplomatic History | volume = 2 | issue = 3| pages = 257–278 | doi=10.1111/j.1467-7709.1978.tb00435.x}}
  • March 1 – March 1st Movement: one of the earliest public displays of Korean resistance during the occupation of the Korean Empire by Japan takes place when 33 activists convene at Taehwagwan Restaurant in Seoul and read the Korean Declaration of Independence. The activists initially planned to assemble at Tapgol Park in downtown Seoul, but chose a more private location out of fear that the gathering might turn into a riot. The leaders of the movement signed the document and sent a copy to the Governor-General of Korea.Cumings, Bruce. Korea’s Place in the Sun: A Modern History. New York: W.N. Norton and Company, 1997.
  • June 28 – Japan signs the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending World War I.
  • October 12 – Olympus was founded.{{page needed|date=May 2020}}
  • November 1 – Food Industry Company, as predecessor of Kewpie, founded in Nakano, Tokyo.{{page needed|date=May 2020}}
  • December 1
  • Osaka Transformer Manufacturing, as predecessor of Daihen was founded.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
  • Toyo Lenoleum, later Toli was founded in Hyogo Prefecture.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}
  • Unknown date – Konan Junior Highschool, later Konan University founded in Higashinada-ku, Kobe.{{page needed|date=May 2020}}
  • Ongoing – Spanish Flu pandemic

Births

  • January 1 – Yoshio Tabata, singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
  • March 20 – Toshio Ōta, aviator (d. 1942)
  • March 23 – Mitsuko Mito, film actress (d. 1981)
  • September 23 – Tōta Kaneko, writer (d. 2018)
  • October 8 – Kiichi Miyazawa, 78th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2007){{cite news|title=Former Japan PM Kiichi Miyazawa dead|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2007/06/28/Former-Japan-PM-Kiichi-Miyazawa-dead/UPI-25741183045966/|access-date=11 January 2013|newspaper=UPI|date=28 June 2007|location=Tokyo}}
  • date unknown - Akeo Watanabe, orchestral conductor (d. 1990)

Deaths

See also

References

{{reflist}}

{{Japan year nav}}

{{Asia topic|1919 in}}

Category:1910s in Japan

Japan

Category:Years of the 20th century in Japan

Category:1919 in Asia