1909 in Japan

Events in the year 1909 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 42 (明治42年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Emperor Meiji
 * Prime Minister: Katsura Tarō

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Masaaki Nomura
 * Akita Prefecture: Mori Masataka
 * Aomori Prefecture: Takeda Chiyosaburo
 * Ehime Prefecture: Kensuke Ando then Takio Izawa
 * Fukui Prefecture: Nakamura Junkuro
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Shotaro Nishizawa
 * Gifu Prefecture: Sadakichi Usu
 * Gunma Prefecture: Uruji Kamiyama
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Tadashi Munakata
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Keisuke Sakanaka
 * Iwate Prefecture: Shinichi Kasai
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Motohiro Onoda
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Kawaji Toshikyo
 * Kochi Prefecture: Kenzo Ishihara
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Kawaji Toshikyo
 * Mie Prefecture: Yoshisuke Arita
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Hiroyuki Terada
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadayoshi Naokichi
 * Nagano Prefecture: Akira Oyama
 * Nara Prefecture: Raizo Wakabayashi
 * Niigata Prefecture: Prince Kiyoshi Honba
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Shigeaki Hibi
 * Osaka Prefecture: Tadashini Kikuchi
 * Saga Prefecture: Nishimura Mutsu
 * Saitama Prefecture: Shimada Gotaro
 * Shiname Prefecture: Maruyama Shigetoshi
 * Tochigi Prefecture: .....
 * Tokyo: Hiroshi Abe
 * Toyama Prefecture: Usami Katsuo
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Mabuchi Eitaro

Events

 * April 29 – Fusako, Princess Kane, seventh daughter of Emperor Meiji, marries Prince Naruhisa Kitashirakawa.
 * May 6 – Nobuko, Princess Fumi, eighth daughter of Emperor Meiji, marries Prince Yasuhiko Asaka
 * September 4 – Japan and China sign the Jiandao/Gando Treaty, which gives Japan a way to receive railroad concessions in Manchuria.
 * September 8 – A bottle glass, sheet glass and display product and sales brand, AGC was founded in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, as predecessor name was Asahi Glass.
 * October Unknown date – Motorbike and compact car brand Suzuki founded, as predecessor name is Suzuki Weaving Machine Manufacturing.
 * October 26 – Itō Hirobumi, four time Prime Minister of Japan (the 1st, 5th, 7th and 10th) and Resident-General of Korea, is assassinated by An Jung-geun at the Harbin Railway Station in Manchuria.

Births

 * January 6 – Haruko Sugimura, film actress (d. 1997)
 * January 20 – Gōgen Yamaguchi, martial artist (d. 1989)
 * March 4 – Prince Tsuneyoshi Takeda (d. 1992)
 * March 6 – Shōhei Ōoka, writer (d. 1988)
 * March 9 – Shizue Natsukawa, actress (d. 1999)
 * March 27 – Eitaro Ozawa, actor (d. 1988)
 * March 29 – Kiyoteru Hanada, literary critic and essayist (d. 1974)
 * April 14 – Yoshikata Yoda, screenwriter (d. 1991)
 * May 5 – Atsushi Nakajima, author (d. 1942)
 * June 19
 * Osamu Dazai, writer (d. 1948)
 * Midori Naka, stage actress (d. 1945)
 * August 11 – Yuji Koseki, composer (d. 1989)
 * September 9 – Setsuko Matsudaira, wife of Prince Chichibu (d. 1995)
 * November 7
 * Ken Uehara, film actor (d. 1991)
 * Sadao Yamanaka, film director and screenwriter (d. 1938)
 * November 16 – Michio Mado, poet (d. 2014)
 * November 29 – Kinuyo Tanaka, film actress (d. 1977)
 * December 21 – Seichō Matsumoto, writer (d. 1992)

Deaths

 * May 10 – Futabatei Shimei, author, translator, and literary critic (b. 1864)
 * July 19 – Arai Ikunosuke, samurai, navy minister of the Republic of Ezo (b. 1836)
 * October 26 – Itō Hirobumi, statesman (b. 1841)
 * November 14 – Yamakawa Futaba, educator (b. 1844)
 * December 8 – Prince Kaya Kuninori (b. 1867)