1923 in Japan

Events in the year 1923 in Japan. It corresponds to Taishō 12 (大正12年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Taishō
 * Regent: Hirohito
 * Prime Minister:
 * Katō Tomosaburō (until August 24)
 * Yamamoto Gonnohyōe (from September 2)

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Hikoji Kawaguchi (until 16 June); Masahiro Ota (starting 16 June)
 * Akita Prefecture: Masao Kishimoto
 * Aomori Prefecture: Yujiro Ozaki (until 25 October); Kazue Baba (starting 25 October)
 * Ehime Prefecture: Juunosuke Miyazaki
 * Fukui Prefecture: Josuke Shiraogawa
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Iwata Mamoru (until 25 October); Kosaka Masayasu (starting 25 October)
 * Gifu Prefecture: Manpei Ueda
 * Gunma Prefecture: Yamaoka Kunitoshi
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Kamehiko Abe (until 25 October); Jiro Yamagata (starting 25 October)
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Genjiro Moriya (until 25 October); Shohei Fujinuma (starting 25 October)
 * Iwate Prefecture: Ushidzuka Torataro
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Shuji Sasaki (until 25 October); Nakagawa Kenzo (starting 25 October)
 * Kanagawa Prefecture: Yasukouchi Asakichi
 * Kochi Prefecture: Toyoji Obata (until 25 October); Fujioka Hyoichi (starting 25 October)
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Tadahiko Okada (until 12 October); Chisato Tanaka (starting 12 October)
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Tokikazu Ikematsu
 * Mie Prefecture: Saburo Shibata (until 25 October); Tago Ilman (starting 25 October)
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Yuichiro Chikaraishi
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Muneyoshi Oshiba (until 25 October); Saito Munenori (starting 25 October)
 * Nagano Prefecture: Toshio Honma
 * Niigata Prefecture: Ota Masahiro (until 11 June); Ohara Sanarata (starting 11 June)
 * Okayama Prefecture: Masao Kishimoto
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Jyun Wada (until 25 October); Ki Iwamoto (starting 25 October)
 * Saga Prefecture: Tominaga
 * Saitama Prefecture: Horiuchi Hidetaro (until 25 October); Motoda Tashio (starting 25 October)'
 * Shiga Prefecture: Kaiichiro Suematsu (starting month unknown)
 * Shiname Prefecture: Sanehide Takarabe (until 25 October); Naganobu Ren (starting 25 October)
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Haruki Yamawaki
 * Tokyo: Katsuo Usami
 * Toyama Prefecture: Kihachiro Ito
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Agata Shinobu

Events

 * April unknown date – Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical was founded, as predecessor part of Astellas Pharma.
 * May 21–25 – 1923 Far Eastern Games held in Osaka.
 * August 24 – Prime Minister Katō Tomosaburō dies in office.
 * August 29 – Fuji Electric Manufacturing, later Fuji Electric was founded.
 * September 1 – The Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing an estimated 142,807 people, but according to a Japanese construction research center report in 2005, 105,000 are confirmed dead. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes.
 * September 1-21 - Kantō Massacre: Young Japanese vigilante groups, driven by rumors of a Korean revolt, attack and murder thousands of Korean residents.
 * September 2
 * Yamamoto Gonnohyōe is appointed Prime Minister of Japan.
 * Martial law declared in Tokyo districts
 * September 3–5 – Kameido incident
 * September 4 – The area of martial law is expanded to cover all of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama prefectures.
 * September 7 – A Curfew is issued in Tokyo.
 * September 16 – Amakasu Incident: The feminist Noe Itō and her partner, the anarchist Sakae Ōsugi are beaten and killed by a police squadron led by Lieutenant Amakasu Masahiko, along with Ōsugi's six-year-old nephew, and their bodies disposed in a well. Following countrywide outcry, Amakasu was court-martialed and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
 * December 27 – Toranomon Incident: An assassination attempt is made on the crown prince Hirohito in Tokyo by Daisuke Namba, but the attempt fails.
 * Unknown date –Yamanouchi Pharmacy, as predecessor of Astellas was founded.

Births

 * March 27 – Shūsaku Endō, writer (d. 1996)
 * May 24 – Seijun Suzuki, filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
 * June 4 – Yuriko, Princess Mikasa, wife of Prince Takahito
 * August 7 – Ryōtarō Shiba, writer (d. 1996)
 * October 7 – Tomio Aoki, film actor (d. 2004)

Deaths

 * January 8 – Shimamura Hayao, Marine Admiral (b. 1858)
 * February 3 – Kuroki Tamemoto general (b. 1844)
 * February 4 – Prince Fushimi Sadanaru, Field Marshal (b. 1858)
 * April 1 – Prince Naruhisa Kitashirakawa, military personnel (b. 1887)
 * June 9
 * Takeo Arishima, novelist, writer and essayist (suicide) (b. 1878)
 * Akiko Hatano, journalist (suicide) (b. 1894)
 * June 19 – Shō Shō, member of the House of Peers (b. 1888)
 * August 24 – Katō Tomosaburō, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1861)
 * September 1 – Matsuoka Yasukowa, politician and cabinet minister (B. 1846)
 * September 2 – Kuriyagawa Hakuson, literary critic (b. 1880)
 * September 16
 * Noe Itō, anarchist, social critic and author (b. 1895)
 * Sakae Ōsugi, anarchist (b. 1885)
 * November 8 – Fusakichi Omori, seismologist (b. 1868)
 * November 26 – Otani Kikuzo, general (b. 1856)
 * December 29 – Kōno Hironaka, politician (b. 1849)