1898 in Japan

Events from the year 1898 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 31 (明治31年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Emperor Meiji
 * Prime Minister:
 * Matsukata Masayoshi: until January 12:
 * Itō Hirobumi: January 12 – June 30
 * Ōkuma Shigenobu: June 30 – November 8
 * Yamagata Aritomo: starting November 8

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Egi Kazuyuki then Baron Mori Mamoru
 * Akita Prefecture: Saburo Iwao
 * Aomori Prefecture: Ichiro Konoshu
 * Ehime Prefecture: Park Shin Maki Naomasa then Goro Shinozaki then Oba Kan'ichi
 * Fukui Prefecture: Shingo Seki
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Kimumichi Nagusami
 * Gifu Prefecture: Yoshinori Yumoto then Anraku Kanemichi
 * Gunma Prefecture: Masataka Ishizata
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Asada Tokunori then Baron Takatoshi Iwamura then Hattori Ichizo then Asada Tokunori
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Motohiro Onada then Prince Kiyoshi Honba
 * Ishikawa Prefecture: Shiba Sankarasu
 * Iwate Prefecture: Ichizo Hattori then Suehiro Naokata
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Tsunenori Tokuhisa then Ryosuke Ono then Yoshihara Saburo
 * Kochi Prefecture: Hiroshi Shikakui
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Kanetake Oura
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Utsumi Tadakatsu
 * Mie Prefecture: Terumi Tanabe then Yuji Rika
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Viscount Kanetake Oura then Kiyoshi Shin
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Senda Sadakatsuki
 * Nagano Prefecture: Gondo Ka'nichi
 * Niigata Prefecture: Minoru Katsumata
 * Oita Prefecture: Shigetoo Sugimoto then Nori Oshikawa
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Shigeru Narahara
 * Osaka Prefecture: Nobumichi Yamada
 * Saga Prefecture: Takeuchi then Yasuhiko Hirayama then Takeuchi then Seki Kiyohide
 * Saitama Prefecture: Munakata Tadashi then Hanai Hagiwara
 * Shiname Prefecture: Hikoji Nakamura then Chuzo Kono
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Sento Kiyoshi then Hagino Samon
 * Tokyo: Viscount Okabe Nagahon then Koizuka Furo then Baron Sangay Takatomi
 * Toyama Prefecture: Tsurayuki Ishida then Hiroshi Abe then Kaneoryo Gen
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Nori Oshikawa then Sone Shizuo

Events

 * January Unknown date – A construction brand, Kumagai Gumi was founded in Fukui City.
 * January 12 – Ito Hirobumi begins his third term as Prime Minister.
 * March 15 – March 1898 Japanese general election
 * August 10 – September 1898 Japanese general election
 * The first automobile (a Panhard-Levassor) is introduced in Japan.

Births

 * February 4 – Shinsui Itō, Nihonga painter (d. 1972)
 * February 9 – Jūkichi Yagi, poet (d. 1927)
 * February 15 – Masuji Ibuse, author (d. 1993)
 * March 17 – Riichi Yokomitsu, writer (d. 1947)
 * April 28 – Yuzo Saeki, painter (d. 1928)
 * April 29 – Iwao Yamawaki, photographer (d. 1987)
 * October 5 – Kenzō Masaoka, anime creator (d. 1988)
 * October 17 – Shinichi Suzuki, violinist, (d. 1998)
 * October 31 – Yoshitoshi Mori, artist (d. 1992)
 * December 11 – Tarō Shōji, popular song singer (d. 1972)
 * December 12 – Denji Kuroshima, author (d. 1943)
 * December 27 – Inejiro Asanuma, politician, leader of the Japan Socialist Party (d. 1960)

Deaths

 * November 12 – Nakahama Manjirō, translator and castaway (b. 1827)