1872 in Japan
Events in the year 1872 in Japan.
Incumbents
- Emperor: Emperor Meiji
- Empress consort: Empress Shōken
Governors
- Aichi Prefecture: Iseki Ushitora
- Akita Prefecture: Shima Yoshitake, Sugio Magoshichiro
- Aomori Prefecture: J. Hishida
- Fukui Prefecture: Kotobuki Murata
- Fukushima Prefecture:
- * until January 20: Tomoharu Kiyooka
- * January 20-June 2: Miyahara
- * starting June 2: Taihe Yasujo
- Gifu Prefecture: Joren Hasegawa
- Gunma Prefecture: Sada Aoyama
- Hiroshima Prefecture: Date Muneoki
- Ibaraki Prefecture:
- * until July 10: Yamaguchi
- * August 8-August 13: Motsuke Nomura
- * starting August 25: Toru Watanabe
- Iwate Prefecture: Korekiyo Shima
- Kagawa Prefecture:
- * until October 17: Mohei Hayashi
- * October 17-November 28: Kan'ichi Nakamura
- * starting November 28: Mohei Hayashi
- Kochi Prefecture: Yuzo Hayashi, Iwasaki Nagatake
- Kyoto Prefecture: Hase Nobuatsu
- Miyagi Prefecture: Ryo Shioya
- Nagano Prefecture: Tachiki Kenzen
- Niigata Prefecture: Hirimatsu
- Oita Prefecture: Kei Morishita
- Osaka Prefecture: Yotsutsuji Nishi
- Saga Prefecture:
- * until July 12: Sadao Koga
- * July 12-December 22: Tesshu Yamaoka
- * starting December 22: Taku Shigeru
- Saitama Prefecture: Morihide Nomura
- Shiname Prefecture:
- * until March 30: Masami Terada
- * March 30-September 27: Tanenori Ikeda
- * starting September 27: Kamiyama Ren
- Tochigi Prefecture: Miki Nabeshima
- Tokyo: Yuri Kousei, Tadahiro Okubo
- Toyama Prefecture: Miyoshi Zhou Liang
- Yamagata Prefecture:......
Events
- date unknown
- *Tokyo National Museum is founded.
- *The Imperial Library is established.
- *Tomioka silk mill, Japan's first modern model silk reeling factory, is established by the government.
- *The Ryukyu Domain is created when the emperor changes the title of Shō Tai, the Ryukyu Kingdom's monarch, to that of a domain head. The former Ryukyu Kingdom thus becomes a han.
Births
- January 22 - Katai Tayama, novelist
- March 25 - Tōson Shimazaki, writer
- May 2 - Ichiyō Higuchi, writer
Deaths
- February 10 - Prince Kitashirakawa Satonari, founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family
- March 28 - Nambu Nobuyuki, 9th and final daimyō of Hachinohe Domain