1916 in Japan

Events in the year 1916 in Japan. It corresponds to Taishō 5 in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

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