Events in the year 1908 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 41 (明治41年) in the

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the Japanese era name, year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written f ...

Incumbents

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

: **

Saionji Kinmochi Kazoku, Prince was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1906 to 1908, and from 1911 to 1912. As the last surviving member of the ''genrō'', the group of senior statesmen who had directed pol ...

(until July 14) **

Katsura Tarō Prince was a Japanese politician and general who served as prime minister of Japan from 1901 to 1906, from 1908 to 1911, and from 1912 to 1913. He was a '' genrō'', or senior statesman who helped dictate policy during the Meiji era, and is th ...

(from July 14)

Governors

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

: Masaaki Nomura *Akita Prefecture: Chuji Shimooka, Mori Masataka *

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

: Shotaro Nishizawa, Takeda Chiyosaburo *Ehime Prefecture: Kensuke Ando *Fukui Prefecture:

Nakamura Junkuro was a Japanese politician who served as governor of Fukui Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 737,229 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic ...

*Fukushima Prefecture:

Hiraoka Teitaro Hiraoka may refer to: * Hiraoka (surname), a Japanese surname * Hiraoka Station (disambiguation), multiple train stations in Japan * Hiraoka Dam, a dam in Nagano Prefecture, Japan * Hiraoka Shrine, a Shinto shrine in Osaka Prefecture, Japan * 11072 ...

then Shotaro Nishizawa *Gifu Prefecture: Sadakichi Usu *Gunma Prefecture:

Arita Yoshisuke Arita may refer to: * Arita (surname) *Arita, Saga, a town in Saga Prefecture, Japan :* Arita ware, a kind of Japanese porcelain made in the area around the town * ''Arita'' (skipper), a synonym for a genus of skipper butterflies *Arita, a brand ...

then Nanbu Mitsumi then Uruji Kamiyama * Hiroshima Prefecture:

Tadashi Munakata Munakata Tadasu

was a Japanese politician who served as governor of S ...

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,828,086 (1 July 2023) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

: Mori Masataka,

Keisuke Sakanaka Keisuke (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese general *, Japanese mixed martial artist *, Japanese footballer * ...

*Iwate Prefecture:

Shinichi Kasai Shin'ichi or Shinichi (しんいち, シンイチ) is a masculine Japanese given name. ''Shin'' and ''ichi'' are separated and it is pronounced . Written forms Different kanji that are pronounced are combined with the kanji for " to give diffe ...

*Kagawa Prefecture:

Motohiro Onoda Motohiro (written: , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese singer-songwriter *, Japanese sailor *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese ''kugyō'' *, Japanese noble *, Japanese politic ...

*Kochi Prefecture:

Sada Suzuki Sada may refer to: People Given name *Sada Abe (1905–after 1971), Japanese convicted murderer, prostitute and actress * Sada Jacobson (born 1983), American Olympic fencer * Sada Orihara (1908-1960), Japanese teacher * Sada Thompson (1927–2011 ...

, Kenzo Ishihara *

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

: Nori Oshikawa,

Kawaji Toshikyo Kawaji (written: 川路) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese politician *, pen name of Kawaki Makoto, Japanese poet and literary critic See also *Kawaji Station is a train station in Iida, Nagano, Iida, ...

Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...

: Baron Shoichi Omori *Mie Prefecture: Lord Arimitsu Hideyoshi, Hayashi Ichizo, Yoshisuke Arita *

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

: Kamei Ezaburo, Hiroyuki Terada *Miyazaki Prefecture: Nagai Enjin, Tadayoshi Naokichi *

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

: Akira Oyama *

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

: Prince Kiyoshi Honba *

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

: Shigeru Narahara, Shigeaki Hibi *

Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...

: Fai Kagawa, Inoue Takashihara, Nishimura Mutsu *

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

: Shimada Gotaro *Shiname Prefecture: Matsunaga Takeyoshi, Raizo Wakabayashi, Maruyama Shigetoshi *Tochigi Prefecture: ..... *

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

: Baron Sangay Takatomi, Hiroshi Abe *Toyama Prefecture: Shinhare Kawakami, Usami Katsuo *Yamagata Prefecture: Mabuchi Eitaro

Events

*April 30 – Masako, Princess Tsune, sixth daughter of Emperor Meiji, marries

Prince Tsunehisa Takeda was the founder of the Takeda-no-miya collateral branch of the Japanese Imperial Family. Biography Prince Tsunehisa Takeda was the eldest son of Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa and thus the brother of Prince Kitashirakawa Naruhisa. He was bo ...

. *May 15 –

1908 Japanese general election General elections were held in Japan on 15 May 1908.Thomas T Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) ''The International Almanac of Electoral History'', Macmillan, p281 The result was a victory for the Rikken Seiyūkai party, which won 187 of the 379 seats ...

*June 22 – Red Flag Incident *November 30 –

Root–Takahira Agreement The was a major 1908 agreement between the United States and the Empire of Japan that was negotiated between United States Secretary of State Elihu Root and Japanese Ambassador to the United States Takahira Kogorō. It was a statement of longsta ...

*Unknown date – Yasui Sewing Machine, as predecessor of

Brother Industries is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational electronics and electrical equipment company headquartered in Nagoya, Japan. Its products include Printer (computing), printers, multifunction printers, desktop computers, consumer and indu ...

founded in Nagoya.

Births

*February 27 –

Kazuo Hasegawa , formerly known by his stage names and , was a Japanese film and stage actor. He appeared in over 300 films from 1927 to 1963. Career Born to a sake brewing family in Kyoto, he first appeared on stage at age five in a theater run by his famil ...

, actor (d.

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

) *February 29 –

Masahiro Makino was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza film, yakuza genres. His real name was , but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including , , and ). ...

, film director (d.

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

) *April 11 –

Masaru Ibuka Masaru Ibuka (井深大 ''Ibuka Masaru''; April 11, 1908 – December 19, 1997) was a Japanese electronics industrialist and co-founder of Sony, along with Akio Morita.Kirkup, James"Obituary: Masaru Ibuka," ''Independent'' (London). December ...

, electronics industrialist, co-founder of

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

(d.

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

) *May 23 – Tomiko Itooka, supercentenarian, Japan’s oldest living People (since December 12 2023-December 29 2024) world's oldest living person (August 19 2024-December 29 2024) (d.

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

) *July 8 –

Kaii Higashiyama was a Japanese writer and artist particularly renowned for his Nihonga style paintings. As one of the most popular artists in post-war Japan, Higashiyama was awarded the Japan Art Academy Prize in 1956 and the Order of Culture in 1969. Biograph ...

, painter (d.

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

) *July 9 – Takashi Asahina, conductor (d.

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

) *September 14 – Nobuo Nakamura, actor (d.

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

) *October 17 – Kenji Miyamoto, communist politician (d.

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

) *November 10 – Kenkichi Oshima, triple jumper (d.

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

) *November 11 –

Sadako Sawamura was a Japanese stage and film actress who appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1976. Biography Sawamura was born Sadako Katō in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. After dropping out of Japan Women's University, she was active in left-w ...

, actress (d.

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

) *December 27 – Tadao Tannaka, triple jumper (d.

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

)

Deaths

*January 13 –

Hashimoto Gahō was a Japanese painter, one of the last to paint in the style of the Kanō school. He is also considered the founder of ''Nihonga'' and was an educator who trained many ''Nihonga'' painters. Many of the painters recognized in later generations a ...

, painter (b. 1835) *March 25 –

Iwasaki Yanosuke was a Japanese banker, businessman, investor, and politician. After his brother Yataro's death in 1885, he succeeded as the president of Mitsubishi, one of Japan's largest conglomerates (''zaibatsu''). He served as the 4th Governor of the Ban ...

, businessman, and 4th Governor of the

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The said bank is a corporate entity ...

(b. 1851) *May 2 –

Prince Yamashina Kikumaro , was the second head of the Yamashina-no-miya, a collateral line of the Japanese imperial family. Early life Prince Yamashina Kikumaro was the son of Prince Yamashina Akira. His mother was a concubine, Nakajo Chieko, but as Prince Akira had n ...

, (b. 1873) *June 23 –

Doppo Kunikida was a Japanese author of novels and romantic poetry during the Meiji period, noted as one of the inventors of Japanese naturalism. Early life and education Doppo Kunikida was born in Chōshi, Chiba as Tetsuo Kunikida. While some doubt exist ...

, author and poet (b. 1871) *October 18 –

Nozu Michitsura Field Marshal The Marquis was a Japanese field marshal and leading figure in the early Imperial Japanese Army. Biography Nozu was born in Kagoshima as the second son of a low-ranking ''samurai'' of the Satsuma Domain. He studied Japanese sw ...

, field marshal (b. 1840) *October 26 –

Enomoto Takeaki Viscount was a Japanese samurai and admiral of the Tokugawa navy of Bakumatsu period Japan, who remained faithful to the Tokugawa shogunate and fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin War. He later served in the ...

, politician, President of the Republic of Ezo (b. 1836) *November 25 – Inagaki Manjirō, diplomat (b. 1861) *December 17 –

Inoue Hikaru Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War. Biography Inoue was born as a younger son to the Moriwaki family in Iwakuni Domain (present day Yamaguchi prefecture), and was later a ...

general (b. 1851)

References

1900s in Japan 1908 by country Years of the 20th century in Japan 1908 in Asia {{Japan-hist-stub