1896 in Japan

Incumbents

• Monarch: Emperor Meiji
• Prime Minister:
• *Itō Hirobumi
• *Kuroda Kiyotaka
• *Matsukata Masayoshi

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture: Tokito Konkyo
• Akita Prefecture: Yasuhiko Hirayama then Saburo Iwao
• Aomori Prefecture: Masa Sawa then Naomasa Maki
• Ehime Prefecture: Chang Masaya Komaki
• Fukui Prefecture: Kunizo Arakawa
• Fukushima Prefecture: Yasutaro Hara then Ogura Nobuchika then Akiyama
• Gifu Prefecture: Sukeo Kabayama
• Gunma Prefecture: Motootoko Nakamura then Abe Hiroshi then Masataka Ishizata
• Hiroshima Prefecture: Nabeshima Miki then Orita Heinai
• Ibaraki Prefecture: Egi Kazuyuki then Motohiro Onoda
• Iwate Prefecture: Ichizo Hattori
• Kagawa Prefecture: Ichizo Fukano then Tsunenori Tokuhisa
• Kochi Prefecture: Ishida Eikichi then Hiroshi Shikakui
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Matsudaira Masanao then Kanetake Oura
• Kyoto Prefecture: Baron Nobumichi Yamada
• Mie Prefecture: Terumi Tanabe
• Miyagi Prefecture: Terumi Tanabe
• Nagano Prefecture: Takasaki Chikaaki
• Niigata Prefecture: Baron Seung Zhi Kuwata
• Oita Prefecture: Tameharu Yamada then Yasuhiko Hirayama
• Okinawa Prefecture: Shigeru Narahara
• Osaka Prefecture: Utsumi Tadakatsu
• Saga Prefecture: Takeuchi
• Saitama Prefecture: Teru Tanabe then Tomi Senketaka
• Shiname Prefecture: Michio Sokabe
• Tochigi Prefecture: Egi Kazuyuki
• Tokyo: Miura Yasushi then Marquis Michitsune Koga
• Toyama Prefecture: Tokuhisa Tsunenori then Ando Kinsuke
• Yamagata Prefecture: Shuichi Kinoshita

Events

• June 15 - Sanriku earthquake: One of the most destructive seismic events in Japanese history. The 8.5 magnitude earthquake occurred at 19:32, approximately off the coast of Iwate Prefecture, Honshu. It resulted in two tsunamis which destroyed about 9,000 homes and caused at least 22,000 deaths. The waves reached a record height of ; more than a meter lower than those created after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake which triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
• December 28 - Nippon Flower Mills was founded.
• Unknown date - Penta-Ocean construction company founded
• Unknown date - Kotaro Mikamo reports the first results of a double-eyelid procedure for aesthetic purposes.

Births

• January 1 - Hankyu Sasaki, admiral
• April 22 - Chishō Takaoka, geisha, writer, and nun
• May 11 - Toshiko, Princess Yasu, daughter of Emperor Meiji
• July 28 - Takeru Inukai, politician and novelist
• August 27 - Kenji Miyazawa, author and poet
• November 13 - Nobusuke Kishi, politician and Prime Minister of Japan

Deaths

• February 28 - Tazawa Inabune, writer
• November 23 - Ichiyō Higuchi, writer