1879 in Japan

Events in the year 1879 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 12 in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Monarch: Emperor Meiji

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Taihe Yasujo
 * Akita Prefecture: Ishida Eikichi
 * Aomori Prefecture: J. Hishida then Hidenori Yamada
 * Ehime Prefecture: Baron Takatoshi Iwamura
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Taihe Yasujo
 * Gifu Prefecture: Toshi Kozaki
 * Gunma Prefecture: Katori Yoshihiko
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Benzō Fujii
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Baron Tatsutaro Nomura then Hitomi Katsutaro
 * Iwate Prefecture: Korekiyo Shima
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Takaaki Tomioka
 * Kochi Prefecture: Viscount Kunitake Watanabe then Baron Kokuritsu Kitagaki
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Baron Masanao Makimura
 * Mie Prefecture: Sadamedaka Iwamura
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Baron Matsudaira Masanao
 * Nagano Prefecture: Narasaki Hiroshi
 * Niigata Prefecture: Nagayama Sheng Hui
 * Oita Prefecture: Shinichi Kagawa then Ryokichi Nishimura
 * Osaka Prefecture: Viscount Norobu Watanabe
 * Saitama Prefecture: Tasuke Shirane
 * Shimane Prefecture: Jiro Sakai
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Miki Nabeshima
 * Tokyo: Masataka Kusumoto then Matsuda Michiyuki
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Viscount Mishima Michitsune

Births

 * January 18 – Tane Ikai, super-centenarian (d. 1995)
 * August 24 – Rentarō Taki, pianist (d. 1903)
 * August 31 – Taishō, 123rd Emperor of Japan (d. 1926)
 * October 1 – Hasegawa Shigure, playwright (d. 1941)
 * December 3 – Kafū Nagai, author, playwright, essayist, and diarist (d. 1959)