1923 in Japan
Events in the year 1923 in Japan. It corresponds to Taishō 12 in the Japanese calendar.
Incumbents
Governors
- Aichi Prefecture: Hikoji Kawaguchi ; Masahiro Ota
- Akita Prefecture: Masao Kishimoto
- Aomori Prefecture: Yujiro Ozaki ; Kazue Baba
- Ehime Prefecture: Juunosuke Miyazaki
- Fukui Prefecture: Josuke Shiraogawa
- Fukushima Prefecture: Iwata Mamoru ; Kosaka Masayasu
- Gifu Prefecture: Manpei Ueda
- Gunma Prefecture: Yamaoka Kunitoshi
- Hiroshima Prefecture: Kamehiko Abe ; Jiro Yamagata
- Ibaraki Prefecture: Genjiro Moriya ; Shohei Fujinuma
- Iwate Prefecture: Ushidzuka Torataro
- Kagawa Prefecture: Shuji Sasaki ; Nakagawa Kenzo
- Kanagawa Prefecture: Yasukouchi Asakichi
- Kochi Prefecture: Toyoji Obata ; Fujioka Hyoichi
- Kumamoto Prefecture: Tadahiko Okada ; Chisato Tanaka
- Kyoto Prefecture: Tokikazu Ikematsu
- Mie Prefecture: Saburo Shibata ; Tago Ilman
- Miyagi Prefecture: Yuichiro Chikaraishi
- Miyazaki Prefecture: Muneyoshi Oshiba ; Saito Munenori
- Nagano Prefecture: Toshio Honma
- Niigata Prefecture: Ota Masahiro ; Ohara Sanarata
- Okayama Prefecture: Masao Kishimoto
- Okinawa Prefecture: Jyun Wada ; Ki Iwamoto
- Saga Prefecture: Tominaga
- Saitama Prefecture: Horiuchi Hidetaro ; Motoda Tashio '
- Shiga Prefecture: Kaiichiro Suematsu
- Shiname Prefecture: Sanehide Takarabe ; Naganobu Ren
- Tochigi Prefecture: Haruki Yamawaki
- Tokyo: Katsuo Usami
- Toyama Prefecture: Kihachiro Ito
- Yamagata Prefecture: Agata Shinobu
Events
- April unknown date - Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical was founded, as predecessor part of Astellas Pharma.
- May 21–25 - 1923 Far Eastern Games held in Osaka.
- August 24 - Prime Minister Katō Tomosaburō dies in office.
- August 29 - Fuji Electric Manufacturing, later Fuji Electric was founded.
- September 1 - The Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing an estimated 142,807 people, but according to a Japanese construction research center report in 2005, 105,000 are confirmed dead. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes.
- September 1-21 - Kantō Massacre: Young Japanese vigilante groups, driven by rumors of a Korean revolt, attack and murder thousands of Korean residents.
- September 2
- *Yamamoto Gonnohyōe is appointed Prime Minister of Japan.
- *Martial law declared in Tokyo districts
- September 3-5 - Kameido incident
- September 4 - The area of martial law is expanded to cover all of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama prefectures.
- September 7 - A Curfew is issued in Tokyo.
- September 16 - Amakasu Incident: The feminist Noe Itō and her partner, the anarchist Sakae Ōsugi are beaten and killed by a police squadron led by Lieutenant Amakasu Masahiko, along with Ōsugi's six-year-old nephew, and their bodies disposed in a well. Following countrywide outcry, Amakasu was court-martialed and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
- December 27 - Toranomon Incident: An assassination attempt is made on the crown prince Hirohito in Tokyo by Daisuke Namba, but the attempt fails.
- Unknown date -Yamanouchi Pharmacy, as predecessor of Astellas was founded.
Births
- February 17 - Jun Fukuda, film director
- March 27 - Shūsaku Endō, writer
- May 24 - Seijun Suzuki, filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter
- June 4 - Yuriko, Princess Mikasa, wife of Prince Takahito
- August 7 - Ryōtarō Shiba, writer
- October 7 - Tomio Aoki, film actor
Deaths
- January 8 - Shimamura Hayao, Marine Admiral
- February 3 - Kuroki Tamemoto general
- February 4 - Prince Fushimi Sadanaru, Field Marshal
- April 1 - Prince Naruhisa Kitashirakawa, military personnel
- June 9
- *Takeo Arishima, novelist, writer and essayist
- *Akiko Hatano, journalist
- June 19 - Shō Shō, member of the House of Peers
- August 24 - Katō Tomosaburō, Prime Minister of Japan
- September 1 - Matsuoka Yasukowa, politician and cabinet minister
- September 2 - Kuriyagawa Hakuson, literary critic
- September 16
- *Noe Itō, anarchist, social critic and author
- *Sakae Ōsugi, anarchist
- November 8 - Fusakichi Omori, seismologist
- November 26 - Otani Kikuzo, general
- December 29 - Kōno Hironaka, politician