1916 in Japan

Events in the year 1916 in Japan. It corresponds to Taishō 5 (大正5年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Emperor Taishō
 * Prime minister:
 * Ōkuma Shigenobu: until October 9
 * Terauchi Masatake: from October 9

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Matsui Shigeru
 * Akita Prefecture: Saburo Sakamoto (until 28 April); Genzaburo Kojima (starting 28 April)
 * Aomori Prefecture: Matsujiro Obama
 * Ehime Prefecture: Renarto Fukamachi (until 28 April); Sakata Kanta (starting 28 April)
 * Fukui Prefecture: Sato Kozaburo
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Sukeji Horiguchi (until 28 April); Takukichi Kawasaki (starting 28 April)
 * Gifu Prefecture: Shimada Gotaro
 * Gunma Prefecture: Miyake Gennosuke
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Terada Yushi (until 28 April); Eitaro Mabuchi (starting 28 April)
 * Hyogo Prefecture: Seino Chotarno (starting month unknown)
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Keisuke Sakanaka
 * Ishikawa Prefecture: Ōta Masahiro (until month unknown)
 * Iwate Prefecture: Rinpei Otsu
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Raizo Wakabayashi
 * Kochi Prefecture: Toki Kahei (until 13 October); Takeo Kakinuma (starting 13 October)
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Kawakami Shinhare (until 13 October); Ōta Masahiro (starting 13 October)
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Shoichi Omori (until April); Jūshirō Kiuchi (starting April)
 * Mie Prefecture:
 * until 28 April: Eitaro Mabuchi
 * 28 April – 23 October: Shujiro Nagata
 * starting 23 October: Miki Nagano
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Tsunenosuke Hamada
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Shutaro Horiuchi
 * Nagano Prefecture: Tenta Akaboshi
 * Niigata Prefecture: Keisuke Sakanaka (until 2 June); Tsuizui Katagawa (starting 2 June)
 * Okinawa Prefecture:
 * until 28 April: Kyūgorō Ōmi
 * 28 April – 4 May: Iwatarō Otagiri
 * starting 4 May: Kuniyoshi Suzuki
 * Osaka Prefecture: Marques Okubo Toshi Takeshi
 * Saga Prefecture: Ishibashi Kazu
 * Saitama Prefecture: Akiratani Akira (until 13 October); Tadahiko Okada (starting 13 October)
 * Shiname Prefecture: Ichiro Oriharami
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Shin Kitagawa (until 2 June); Hiroyoshi Hiratsuka (starting 2 June)
 * Tokyo: Yuichi Ionue
 * Toyama Prefecture: Ki Masesaku
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Iwataro Odakiri (until 28 April); Soeda Keiichiro (starting 28 April)

Events

 * Japan during World War I
 * January 22 – Japan launches its first domestically manufactured blimp. The blimp left Tokorozawa at 1:30 p.m. and, after landing and refueling at Toyohashi, landed in Osaka at 5:10 p.m. the next day.
 * November 2 – Prince Hirohito is formally proclaimed Crown Prince and heir apparent.
 * October 9 – Tokyo Confectionery, as predecessor of Meiji Holdings was founded.
 * Unknown date
 * A truck brand, Isuzu founded, as predecessor name of Ishikawajima Automobile Manufacturing.
 * Seinan Gakuin University was founded, as predecessor name was Seinan Gakuin in Fukuoka.

Births

 * January 9 – Masaharu Taguchi, freestyle swimmer (d. 1982)
 * January 12 – Haruo Oka, ryūkōka singer (d. 1970)
 * February 14 – Masaki Kobayashi, film director (d. 1996)
 * July 1 – Olivia de Havilland, British-American film actress (d. 2020 in France)
 * August 8 – Shigeo Arai, freestyle swimmer (d. 1944)
 * August 25 – Saburō Sakai, naval aviator and flying ace (d. 2000)
 * September 17 – Kuniko Miyake, film actress (d. 1992)
 * October 10 – Sumiko Mizukubo, film actress
 * October 15 – Yasuji Miyazaki, Olympic swimmer (d. 1989)

Deaths

 * January 11 – Takashima Tomonosuke, general (b. 1844)
 * February 9 – Katō Hiroyuki, academic and politician (b. 1836)
 * August 8 – Kamimura Hikonojō, admiral (b. 1849)
 * December 9 – Natsume Sōseki, novelist and poet (b. 1867)
 * December 10 – Ōyama Iwao, field marshal (b. 1842)