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
 * 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 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)