1897 in Japan

Events from the year 1897 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 30 (明治30年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Emperor Meiji
 * Prime Minister: Matsukata Masayoshi

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Tokito Konkyo then Egi Kazuyuki
 * Akita Prefecture: Saburo Iwao
 * Aomori Prefecture: Naomasa Maki then Ichiro Konoshu
 * Ehime Prefecture: Chang Masaya Komaki then Yutori Kojiro then Park Shin Maki Naomasa
 * Fukui Prefecture: Kunizo Arakawa then Denzaburo Hatano then Shingo Seki
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Akiyama then Kimumichi Nagusami
 * Gifu Prefecture: Sukeo Kabayama then Yoshinori Yumoto
 * Gunma Prefecture: Masataka Ishizata
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Orita Heinai then Asada Tokunori
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Egi Kazuyuki then Motohiro Onoda then Prince Kiyoshi Honba
 * Iwate Prefecture: Ichizo Hattori
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Tsunenori Tokuhisa
 * Kochi Prefecture: Ishida Eikichi then Hiroshi Shikakui
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Kanetake Oura
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Baron Nobumichi Yamada then Baron Utsumi Tadakatsu
 * Mie Prefecture: Terumi Tanabe
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Minoru Katsumata then Sukeo Kabayama
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Senda Sadakatsuki
 * Nagano Prefecture: Takasaki Chikaaki then Gondo Ka'nichi
 * Niigata Prefecture: Asada Tokunori then Minoru Katsumata
 * Oita Prefecture: Yasuhiko Hirayama then Shigetoo Sugimoto
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Shigeru Narahara
 * Osaka Prefecture: Utsumi Tadakatsu then Tokito Konkyo
 * Saga Prefecture: Akira Oyama
 * Saitama Prefecture: Tomi Senketaka
 * Shiname Prefecture: Michio Sokabe then Hikoji Nakamura
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Sato Nobu then Egi Kazuyuki then Sento Kiyoshi
 * Tokyo: Marquis Michitsune Koga then Viscount Okabe Nagahon
 * Toyama Prefecture: Ando Kinsuke then Tsurayuki Ishida
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Shuichi Kinoshita then Kikuchi Karasu

Events

 * January 17 – A first issue newspaper, Kahoku Shinpō was published in Miyagi Prefecture.
 * May – Opening of the Kyoto National Museum.
 * June 1 – Opening of Matsugishi Station in Chōshi, Chiba.
 * June 10 – Founding of the publishing company Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha.
 * June 18 – establishment of Kyoto University under the name Kyoto Imperial University.

Births

 * March 2 – Shizue Kato, politician and activist (d. 2001)
 * March 28 – Yusuke Hagihara, astronomer (d. 1979)
 * April 19 – Jiroemon Kimura, supercentenarian, oldest man ever, world's oldest living person from December 2012 to June 2013. (d. 2013)
 * October 10 – Shigeji Tsuboi, poet (d. 1975)
 * October 23 – Yae Ibuka, nurse (d. 1989)
 * November 12 – Eddie Imazu, art director (d. 1979)
 * November 17 – Kinichiro Sakaguchi, agricultural chemist and microbiologist (d. 1994)
 * November 28 – Chiyo Uno, writer and author (d. 1996)
 * December 8 – Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi, naval officer (d. 1938; myocardial infarction)
 * December 26 – Unno Juza, writer, founding father of Japanese science fiction (d. 1949)

Deaths

 * August 24 – Mutsu Munemitsu, statesman and diplomat (b. 1844)
 * November 29 – Mitsukuri Rinsho, statesman and legal scholar (born 1846)