1899 in Japan
Events in the year 1899 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 32 in the Japanese calendar.
Incumbents
Governors
- Aichi Prefecture: Mori Mamoru
- Akita Prefecture: Takeda Chiyosaburo
- Aomori Prefecture: Munakata Tadashi
- Ehime Prefecture: Tai Neijro
- Fukui Prefecture: Saburo Iwao
- Fukushima Prefecture: Kimumichi Nagusami then Arita Yoshisuke
- Gifu Prefecture: Tanaka Takamichi then Kawaji Toshikyo
- Gunma Prefecture: Suehiro Naokata
- Hiroshima Prefecture: Asada Tokunori
- Ibaraki Prefecture: Prince Kiyoshi Honba then Fumi Kashiwada
- Iwate Prefecture: Ganri Hojo
- Kagawa Prefecture: Yoshihara Saburo
- Kochi Prefecture: Tadashi Tanigawa
- Kumamoto Prefecture: Tokuhisa Tsunenori
- Kyoto Prefecture: Baron Utsumi Tadakatsu then Baron Shoichi Omori
- Mie Prefecture: Yuji Rika then Duke Isaburo Yamagata then Arakawa Yoshitaro
- Miyagi Prefecture: Motohiro Onoda
- Miyazaki Prefecture: Sukeo Kabawaya
- Nagano Prefecture: Oshikawa Sokkichi
- Niigata Prefecture: Minoru Katsumata
- Oita Prefecture: Marques Okubo Toshi Takeshi
- Okinawa Prefecture: Shigeru Narahara
- Osaka Prefecture: Tadashini Kikuchi
- Saga Prefecture: Seki Kiyohide
- Saitama Prefecture: Marquis Okubo Toshi Takeshi
- Shiname Prefecture: Matsunaga Takeyoshi
- Tochigi Prefecture: Korechika
- Tokyo: Baron Sangay Takatomi
- Toyama Prefecture: Kaneoryo Gen
- Yamagata Prefecture: Baron Seki Yoshiomi
Events
- February 1 - Telephone service begins between Tokyo and Osaka.
- February 7 - Keiō and Waseda become Japan's first private universities.
- February 13 - The income tax law is promulgated.
- March 1 - Sankyo Pharmaceutical established in Yokohama, as predecessor of Daiichi Sankyo.
- March 4 - Japan passes its first copyright law.
- March 9 - Japan promulgates its commercial code, the Shōhō, to take effect on June 16.
- July 15 - Japan's first comprehensive copyright law takes effect and, on the same day, Japan agrees to join the Berne Convention.
- July 17 - NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital.
- November - Momijigari, the oldest extant Japanese film, is shot an open space behind the Kabuki-za in Tokyo.
- Unknown date - Morinaga Confectionery was founded, as predecessor name was Morinaga Western Confectionery.
- Unknown date - The Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act is enacted by the Imperial Diet
Births
- January 20 - Kenjiro Takayanagi, television engineer, creator of the world's first all-electronic television receiver
- February 10 - Suihō Tagawa, manga artist
- February 13 - Yuriko Miyamoto, novelist
- March 7 - Jun Ishikawa, writer
- June 11 - Yasunari Kawabata, writer, novelist, Nobel laureate in Literature
- August 1 - Saburō Matsukata, journalist, businessman and mountaineer
- August 5 - Sakae Tsuboi, novelist and poet
- September 1 - Takuma Nishimura, general
- September 8 - Akiko Seki, soprano
- October 1 - Matsutarō Kawaguchi, novelist, playwright and film producer
- November 7 - Daisuke Nanba, communist activist
- December 3 - Hayato Ikeda, Prime Minister of Japan
- Unknown - Genkei Masamune, botanist,
Deaths
- January 21 - Katsu Kaishū, statesman and naval engineer
- May 11 - Kawakami Soroku. General
- September 26 - Ōki Takatō, statesman, Mayor of Tokyo
- December 26 - Harada Naojirō, yōga-style painter