# 1899 in Japan

Events in the year 1899 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 32 (明治32年) in the Japanese calendar.

## Incumbents

* Emperor: Emperor Meiji
* Prime Minister: Yamagata Aritomo

### Governors

* Aichi Prefecture: Mori Mamoru
* Akita Prefecture: Takeda Chiyosaburo
* Aomori Prefecture: Munakata Tadashi
* Ehime Prefecture: Tai Neijro
* Fukui Prefecture: Saburo Iwao
* Fukushima Prefecture: Kimumichi Nagusami then Arita Yoshisuke
* Gifu Prefecture: Tanaka Takamichi then Kawaji Toshikyo
* Gunma Prefecture: Suehiro Naokata
* Hiroshima Prefecture: Asada Tokunori
* Ibaraki Prefecture: Prince Kiyoshi Honba then Fumi Kashiwada
* Iwate Prefecture: Ganri Hojo
* Kagawa Prefecture: Yoshihara Saburo
* Kochi Prefecture: Tadashi Tanigawa
* Kumamoto Prefecture: Tokuhisa Tsunenori
* Kyoto Prefecture: Baron Utsumi Tadakatsu then Baron Shoichi Omori
* Mie Prefecture: Yuji Rika then Duke Isaburo Yamagata then Arakawa Yoshitaro
* Miyagi Prefecture: Motohiro Onoda
* Miyazaki Prefecture: Sukeo Kabawaya
* Nagano Prefecture: Oshikawa Sokkichi
* Niigata Prefecture: Minoru Katsumata
* Oita Prefecture: Marques Okubo Toshi Takeshi
* Okinawa Prefecture: Shigeru Narahara
* Osaka Prefecture: Tadashini Kikuchi
* Saga Prefecture: Seki Kiyohide
* Saitama Prefecture: Marquis Okubo Toshi Takeshi
* Shiname Prefecture: Matsunaga Takeyoshi
* Tochigi Prefecture: Korechika
* Tokyo: Baron Sangay Takatomi
* Toyama Prefecture: Kaneoryo Gen
* Yamagata Prefecture: Baron Seki Yoshiomi

## Events

* February 1 – Telephone service begins between Tokyo and Osaka.
* February 7 – Keiō and Waseda become Japan's first private universities.
* February 13 – The income tax law is promulgated.
* March 1 – Sankyo Pharmaceutical established in Yokohama, as predecessor of Daiichi Sankyo.
* March 4 – Japan passes its first copyright law.
* March 9 – Japan promulgates its commercial code, the Shōhō, to take effect on June 16.
* July 15 – Japan's first comprehensive copyright law takes effect and, on the same day, Japan agrees to join the Berne Convention.
* July 17 – NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital.
* November – Momijigari, the oldest extant Japanese film, is shot an open space behind the Kabuki-za in Tokyo.
* Unknown date – Morinaga Confectionery was founded, as predecessor name was Morinaga Western Confectionery.
* Unknown date – The Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act is enacted by the Imperial Diet

## Births

* January 20 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, television engineer, creator of the world's first all-electronic television receiver (d. 1990)
* February 10 – Suihō Tagawa, manga artist (d. 1989)
* February 13 – Yuriko Miyamoto, novelist (d. 1951)
* March 7 – Jun Ishikawa, writer (d. 1987)
* June 11 – Yasunari Kawabata, writer, novelist, Nobel laureate in Literature (d. 1972)
* August 1 – Saburō Matsukata, journalist, businessman and mountaineer (d. 1973)
* August 5 – Sakae Tsuboi, novelist and poet (d. 1967)
* September 1 – Takuma Nishimura, general (d. 1951)
* September 8 – Akiko Seki, soprano (d. 1973)
* October 1 – Matsutarō Kawaguchi, novelist, playwright and film producer (d. 1985)
* November 7 – Daisuke Nanba, communist activist (d. 1924)
* December 3 – Hayato Ikeda, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1965)
* Unknown – Genkei Masamune, botanist, (d. 1993)

## Deaths

* January 21 – Katsu Kaishū, statesman and naval engineer (b. 1823)
* May 11 – Kawakami Soroku. General (b. 1848)
* September 26 – Ōki Takatō, statesman, Mayor of Tokyo (b. 1832)
* December 26 – Harada Naojirō, yōga-style painter (b. 1863)