1916 in Japan
Events in the year 1916 in Japan. It corresponds to Taishō 5 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 ; Genzaburo Kojima
- Aomori Prefecture: Matsujiro Obama
- Ehime Prefecture: Renarto Fukamachi ; Sakata Kanta
- Fukui Prefecture: Sato Kozaburo
- Fukushima Prefecture: Sukeji Horiguchi ; Takukichi Kawasaki
- Gifu Prefecture: Shimada Gotaro
- Gunma Prefecture: Miyake Gennosuke
- Hiroshima Prefecture: Terada Yushi ; Eitaro Mabuchi
- Hyogo Prefecture: Seino Chotarno
- Ibaraki Prefecture: Keisuke Sakanaka
- Ishikawa Prefecture: Ōta Masahiro
- Iwate Prefecture: Rinpei Otsu
- Kagawa Prefecture: Raizo Wakabayashi
- Kochi Prefecture: Toki Kahei ; Takeo Kakinuma
- Kumamoto Prefecture: Kawakami Shinhare ; Ōta Masahiro
- Kyoto Prefecture: Shoichi Omori ; Jūshirō Kiuchi
- 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 ; Tsuizui Katagawa
- 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 ; Tadahiko Okada
- Shiname Prefecture: Ichiro Oriharami
- Tochigi Prefecture: Shin Kitagawa ; Hiroyoshi Hiratsuka
- Tokyo: Yuichi Ionue
- Toyama Prefecture: Ki Masesaku
- Yamagata Prefecture: Iwataro Odakiri ; Soeda Keiichiro
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
- January 12 - Haruo Oka, ryūkōka singer
- February 14 - Masaki Kobayashi, film director
- July 1 - Olivia de Havilland, British-American film actress
- August 8 - Shigeo Arai, freestyle swimmer
- August 25 - Saburō Sakai, naval aviator and flying ace
- September 17 - Kuniko Miyake, film actress
- October 10 - Sumiko Mizukubo, film actress
- October 15 - Yasuji Miyazaki, Olympic swimmer
Deaths
- January 11 - Takashima Tomonosuke, general
- February 9 - Katō Hiroyuki, academic and politician
- August 8 - Kamimura Hikonojō, admiral
- December 9 - Natsume Sōseki, novelist and poet
- December 10 - Ōyama Iwao, field marshal