1908 in Japan

Events in the year 1908 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 41 (明治41年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Emperor Meiji
 * Prime Minister:
 * Saionji Kinmochi (until July 14)
 * Katsura Tarō (from July 14)

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Masaaki Nomura
 * Akita Prefecture: Chuji Shimooka, Mori Masataka
 * Aomori Prefecture: Shotaro Nishizawa, Takeda Chiyosaburo
 * Ehime Prefecture: Kensuke Ando
 * Fukui Prefecture: Nakamura Junkuro
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Hiraoka Teitaro then Shotaro Nishizawa
 * Gifu Prefecture: Sadakichi Usu
 * Gunma Prefecture: Arita Yoshisuke then Nanbu Mitsumi then Uruji Kamiyama
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Tadashi Munakata
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Mori Masataka, Keisuke Sakanaka
 * Iwate Prefecture: Shinichi Kasai
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Motohiro Onoda
 * Kochi Prefecture: Sada Suzuki, Kenzo Ishihara
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Nori Oshikawa, Kawaji Toshikyo
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Baron Shoichi Omori
 * Mie Prefecture: Lord Arimitsu Hideyoshi, Hayashi Ichizo, Yoshisuke Arita
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Kamei Ezaburo, Hiroyuki Terada
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Nagai Enjin, Tadayoshi Naokichi
 * Nagano Prefecture: Akira Oyama
 * Niigata Prefecture: Prince Kiyoshi Honba
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Shigeru Narahara, Shigeaki Hibi
 * Saga Prefecture: Fai Kagawa, Inoue Takashihara, Nishimura Mutsu
 * Saitama Prefecture: Shimada Gotaro
 * Shiname Prefecture: Matsunaga Takeyoshi, Raizo Wakabayashi, Maruyama Shigetoshi
 * Tochigi Prefecture: .....
 * Tokyo: Baron Sangay Takatomi, Hiroshi Abe
 * Toyama Prefecture: Shinhare Kawakami, Usami Katsuo
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Mabuchi Eitaro

Events

 * April 30 – Masako, Princess Tsune, sixth daughter of Emperor Meiji, marries Prince Tsunehisa Takeda.
 * May 15 – 1908 Japanese general election
 * June 22 – Red Flag Incident
 * November 30 – Root–Takahira Agreement
 * Unknown date – Yasui Sewing Machine, as predecessor of Brother Industries founded in Nagoya.

Births

 * February 27 – Kazuo Hasegawa, actor (d. 1984)
 * February 29 – Masahiro Makino, film director (d. 1993)
 * April 11 – Masaru Ibuka, electronics industrialist, co-founder of Sony (d. 1997)
 * July 8 – Kaii Higashiyama, painter (d. 2009)
 * July 9 – Takashi Asahina, conductor (d. 2001)
 * September 14 – Nobuo Nakamura, actor (d. 1991)
 * October 17 – Kenji Miyamoto, communist politician (d. 2007)
 * November 10 – Kenkichi Oshima, triple jumper (d. 1985)
 * November 11 – Sadako Sawamura, actress (d. 1996)
 * December 27 – Tadao Tannaka, triple jumper (d. 1986)

Deaths

 * January 13 – Hashimoto Gahō, painter (b. 1835)
 * March 25 – Iwasaki Yanosuke, businessman, and 4th Governor of the Bank of Japan (b. 1851)
 * May 2 – Prince Yamashina Kikumaro, (b. 1873)
 * June 23 – Doppo Kunikida, author and poet (b. 1871)
 * October 18 – Nozu Michitsura, field marshal (b. 1840)
 * October 26 – Enomoto Takeaki, politician, President of the Republic of Ezo (b. 1836)
 * November 25 – Inagaki Manjirō, diplomat (b. 1861)
 * December 17 – Inoue Hikaru general (b. 1851)