Events in the year 1914 in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It corresponds to Taishō 3 (大正3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 ...

: Taishō *

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 ...

: **

Yamamoto Gonnohyōe , was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and twice Prime Minister of Japan from 1913 to 1914 and again from 1923 to 1924. Biography Early life Yamamoto was born in Kagoshima in Satsuma Province (now Kagoshima Prefecture) as the sixth son ...

Ōkuma Shigenobu Marquess was a Japanese politician who served as the prime minister of Japan in 1898, and from 1914 to 1916. Born in the Saga Domain, Ōkuma was appointed minister of finance soon after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, aided by his friendship w ...

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 ...

: Matsui Shigeru *Akita Prefecture: Toyosuke Haneda (until 28 May); Saburo Sakamoto (starting 28 May) *

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 ...

: Takeo Tanaka (until 28 April); Matsujiro Obama (starting 28 April) *Ehime Prefecture: Renarto Fukamachi *Fukui Prefecture: Teru Kagawa (until 9 June); Sato Kozaburo (starting 9 June) *Fukushima Prefecture: Ota Masahiro *Gifu Prefecture: Shimada Gotaro *Gunma Prefecture: Muneyoshi Oshiba (until 28 April); Miyake Gennosuke (starting 28 April) * Hiroshima Prefecture: Terada Yushi *Hyogo Prefecture: Seino Chotarno *

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, ...

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 * ...

Ishikawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...

Kiichirō Kumagai Kiichirō Kumagai (; May 26, 1866 – October 9, 1949) was the first Director of South Karafuto ( Karafuto Civil Administration, 1905–1907). He was governor of Yamanashi Prefecture (1908–1913) and Ishikawa Prefecture (1914–1915). He was a g ...

(until month unknown) *Iwate Prefecture: Sadajiro Tsutsumi (until 9 January); Rinpei Otsu (starting 9 January) *Kagawa Prefecture: Kogoro Kanokogi (until 9 June); Takeji Kawamura (starting 9 June) *Kochi Prefecture: Kinjiro Nagai (until 9 June); Toki Kahei (starting 9 June) *

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 ...

: Akahoshi Futoshi (until 28 April); Kawakami Shinhare (starting 28 April) *

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 ...

: Shoichi Omori *Mie Prefecture: Magoichi Tahara (until 28 April);

Eitaro Mabuchi was a Japanese politician who served as governor of Yamagata Prefecture (1906-1912), Yamaguchi Prefecture (1914-1916), Mie Prefecture (1914-1916), Hiroshima Prefecture from April 1916 to May 1918, Kyoto Prefecture (1918-1921) and mayor of Kyoto ...

(starting 28 April) *

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 ...

: Mori Masataka (until 28 April); Magoichi Tahara (starting 28 April) *Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadakazu Ariyoshi *

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 ...

: Ichiro Yoda (until 28 April); Yuichiro Chikaraishi (starting 28 April) *

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 ...

: Ando Kensuke (until 28 April);

(starting 28 April) *

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 ...

: Takuya Takahashi (until 9 June); Kyūgorō Ōmi (starting 9 June) *

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

: Marques Okubo Toshi Takeshi *

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 ...

Fuwa The Fuwa (; literally "good-luck dolls", also known as "Friendlies") were the Olympic mascot, mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The designs were created by Han Meilin, a Chinese artist. The designs were publicly announced by the ...

(until 9 June); Raizo Wakabayashi (starting 9 June) *

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 ( ...

: Soeda Keiichiro (until 9 June);

Akira Sakaya was a Director of the Karafuto Agency (1916–1919, 1924–1926). He was governor of Ōita (1911–1913) and Saitama Prefecture (1914–1916). He was a graduate of the University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japa ...

(starting 9 June) *Shiname Prefecture: Takaoka Naokichi (until 28 April); Ichiro Oriharami (starting 28 April); *Tochigi Prefecture: Okada Bunji (until 5 June); Shin Kitagawa (starting 5 June) *

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 ...

: Munakata Tadash (until 21 April); Kubota Kiyochika (starting 21 April) *Toyama Prefecture: Tsunenosuke Hamada *Yamagata Prefecture: Iwataro Odakiri

Events

*January – Siemens scandal breaks out. *February 10–14 large-scale demonstrations erupted in

in response to the Siemens scandal. *March 24 – Both houses of the Imperial Diet refused to pass the 1914 Navy budget *April 16 –

resigns as Prime Minister *August 7 – The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

( Japan's ally since 1902) officially asked Japan for assistance in destroying the raiders from the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...

in and around Chinese waters. *August 23 – Japan declares war on

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. *August 25 – Japan declares war on

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, after

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

refused to withdraw the Austro-Hungarian cruiser SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth from

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

. *September 2 – Japanese forces landed on China's Shandong province and surrounded the German settlement at

*September 6 – A seaplane launched by the seaplane-carrier ''Wakamiya''. unsuccessfully attacked the Austro-Hungarian cruiser ''Kaiserin Elisabeth'' and the German gunboat ''Jaguar'' with bombs *October – The

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

seized several of Germany's island colonies in the Pacific – the Mariana, Caroline, and

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

- with virtually no resistance. The Japanese Navy conducted the world's first naval-launched air raids against German-held land targets in Shandong province and ships in Qiaozhou Bay from ''Wakamiya''. *October 17–November 7 – Naval operations around

Qingdao, China Qingdao, Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Provinces of China, Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortre ...

. *October 31–November 7 –

Siege of Tsingtao The siege of Tsingtao (; ; zh, s=青岛战役, t=青島戰役) was the attack on the German port of Qingdao (Tsingtao) from Jiaozhou Bay during World War I by Empire of Japan, Japan and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United K ...

(Qingdao) concluded with the surrender of German colonial forces. *December 20 –

Tokyo Station Tōkyō Station (, ) is a major railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is not far ...

opened with four platforms; two serving electric trains and two serving non-electric trains.

Births

*January 12 – Mieko Kamiya, psychiatrist (d.

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

) *April 16 – Hiro Saga, noblewoman (d.

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

) *May 20 – Hideko Maehata,

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

swimmer and first Japanese woman to win an Olympic gold medal. (d.

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

) *May 30 – Akinoumi Setsuo, sumo wrestler (d.

) *June 12 –

Go Seigen Wu Chuan (), courtesy name Wu Ching-yuan ()His courtesy name was created based on his real name (''Chuan'' means "spring, fountain" and ''Ching-yuan'' means "clear and pure source of water"). (June 12, 1914 – November 30, 2014), better known ...

, Go player (d.

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

) *July 30 – Michizō Tachihara, poet and architect (d.

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

) *August 2 – Sueo Ōe, athlete (d.

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

) *August 19 –

Fumio Hayasaka was a Japanese composer of classical music and film scores. Early life Hayasaka was born in the city of Sendai on the main Japanese island of Honshū. In 1918, Hayasaka and his family moved to Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaidō. In ...

, composer (d.

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

) *August 25 –

Shizuko Kasagi was a Japanese jazz singer and actress. At the peak of her fame in the immediate post-war era, she earned the nickname the . Kasagi frequently sang songs composed by Ryōichi Hattori, including 1947's "Tokyo Boogie-Woogie", which remains her be ...

, singer (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 ...

) *September 1 – Tsuneko Sasamoto, photojournalist (d.

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

) *October 1 –

Hamao Umezawa was a Japanese scientist who discovered several antimicrobial agents and enzyme inhibitors. Umezawa was born in Obama City, Fukui Prefecture, as the second son in a family of seven children. After graduating from Musashi Junior and Senior High ...

, microbiologist (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 ...

) *October 25 – Yukie Arata, freestyle swimmer (d. unknown) *November 3 –

Saburo Okita Saburō Ōkita (大来佐武郎 ''Ōkita Saburō'') (3 November 1914 – 9 February 1993) was a Japanese economist and politician noted for his role in the postwar development of the Japanese economy and Japan-US relations. Early life and educa ...

, foreign minister (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 ...

)

Deaths

*January 16 –

Itō Sukeyuki Marshal-Admiral Count (20 May 1843 – 16 January 1914) was a Japanese career officer and admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy in Meiji-period Japan. Biography Born in what is now part of Kagoshima City as the son of a ''samurai'' of the ...

, admiral (b. 1843) *February 16 – Aoki Shūzō politician and diplomat (b. 1844) *April 9 –

Empress Shōken , who adopted the imperial given name in 1867 and was posthumously honoured as , was the wife of Emperor Meiji of Japan. She was one of the founders of the Japanese Red Cross Society, whose charity work was known throughout the First Sino-Japa ...

, consort of

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 ...

(b. 1849) *November 16 –

Shunrō Oshikawa was a Japanese author, journalist and editor, best known as a pioneer of science fiction. Education and early career While studying law at Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō (present day Waseda University) at the turn of the century, Oshikawa published ''Ka ...

, author and journalist (b. 1876)

References