1886 in Japan

Events in the year 1886 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 19 (明治19年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Monarch: Emperor Meiji
 * Prime Minister: Itō Hirobumi

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Minoru Katsumata
 * Akita Prefecture: Akagawa then Sada Aoyama
 * Aomori Prefecture: Kyusei Fukushima then Nabeshima Miki
 * Ehime Prefecture: Shinpei Seki
 * Fukui Prefecture: Tsutomu Ishiguro
 * Fukuoka Prefecture: Yasujo
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Kinichi Akashi then Hiraochi Orita
 * Gifu Prefecture: Toshi Kozaki
 * Gunma Prefecture: Katori Yoshihiko
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Senda Sadaaki
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Shima then Sadanori Yasuda
 * Iwate Prefecture: Shoichiro Ishii
 * Kanagawa Prefecture: Baron Tadatsu Hayashi
 * Kochi Prefecture: Yoshiaki Tonabe
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Yoshiaki Tonabe
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Baron Utsumi Tadakatsu
 * Mie Prefecture: Ishii Kuni
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Matsudaira Masanao
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Teru Tananbe
 * Nagano Prefecture: Baron Seiichiro Kinashi
 * Niigata Prefecture: Shinozaki Goro
 * Oita Prefecture: Ryokichi Nishimura
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Sadakiyo Osako then Minoru Fukuhara
 * Osaka Prefecture: Tateno Tsuyoshi
 * Saga Prefecture: Kamata
 * Saitama Prefecture: Kiyohide Yoshida
 * Shimane Prefecture: Sada Kotedayasu
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Sukeo Kabayama
 * Tokyo: Hiroshi Watanabe then Marquis Shigeru Hachisuke
 * Toyama Prefecture: Kunishige Masafuni then Fujishima Masaki
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Orita Hirauchi then Shibahara Sum

Events

 * January 26 - The Hokkaidō Agency opens, with its main office in Sapporo and branch offices in Hakodate and Nemuro.

Births

 * January 28 – Hidetsugu Yagi, electrical engineer (d. 1976)
 * February 10 – Raichō Hiratsuka, writer, journalist, political activist (d. 1971)
 * February 20 – Takuboku Ishikawa, poet (d. 1912)
 * February 23 – Yahiko Mishima, athlete (d. 1954)
 * May 20 – Chieko Takamura, artist (d. 1938)
 * June 9 – Kosaku Yamada, composer and conductor (d. 1965)
 * June 10 – Sessue Hayakawa, actor (d. 1973)
 * June 18 – Tsuruko Haraguchi, psychologist and the first Japanese woman to receive a Doctor of Philosophy (d. 1915)
 * July 17 – Chizuko Mifune, clairvoyant (d. 1911)
 * July 20 – Misao Fujimura, student and poet (d. 1903)
 * July 24 – Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, writer and novelist (d. 1965)
 * November 1
 * Sakutarō Hagiwara, writer (d. 1942)
 * Sumako Matsui, actress and singer (d. 1919)
 * November 27 – Tsuguharu Foujita, painter (d. 1968)