Events in the year 1903 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 36 (明治36年) in the Japanese calendar.
Incumbents Emperor: Emperor Meiji
Governors Aichi Prefecture: Masaaki Nomura Akita Prefecture: Shiba Sankarasu then Ichiro Tsubaki Aomori Prefecture: Ichiji Yamanouchi then Katsutaro Inuzuka then Shotaro Nishizawa Ehime Prefecture: Tai Neijro Fukui Prefecture: Suke Sakamoto Fukushima Prefecture: Arita Yoshisuke Gifu Prefecture: Kawaji Toshikyo Gunma Prefecture: Yoshimi Teru Hiroshima Prefecture: Asada Tokunori then Tokuhisa Tsunenori Ibaraki Prefecture: Chuzo Kono then Teru Terahara Iwate Prefecture: Ganri Hojo Kagawa Prefecture: Motohiro Onoda Kochi Prefecture: Kinyuu Watanabe then Munakata Tadashi Kumamoto Prefecture: Egi Kazuyuki Kyoto Prefecture: Baron Shoichi Omori Mie Prefecture: Kamon Furusha Miyagi Prefecture: Terumi Tanabe Miyazaki Prefecture: Toda Tsunetaro Nagano Prefecture: Seki Kiyohide Niigata Prefecture: Hiroshi Abe Oita Prefecture: Marques Okubo Toshi Takeshi Okinawa Prefecture: Shigeru Narahara Saga Prefecture: Fai Kagawa Saitama Prefecture: Marquis Okubo Toshi Takeshi Shiga Prefecture: Sada Suzuki Shiname Prefecture: Ryogen Kaneo then Matsunaga Takeyoshi Tochigi Prefecture: Sugai Makoto Tokushima Prefecture: Saburo Iwao Tokyo: Baron Sangay Takatomi Toyama Prefecture: Rika Ryusuke Yamagata Prefecture: Tanaka Takamichi Yamanashi Prefecture: Takeda Chiyosaburo
Events March 1 – 1903 Japanese general election: The Rikken Seiyūkai party remained the largest in the House of Representatives, winning 175 of the 376 seats, but lost its majority. July 7 – Momijigari, the oldest extant Japanese film, premiers. It runs until August 1. Unknown date – Kagome was founded, as predecessor name was Aichi Tomato Food Processing in Tokai, Aichi Prefecture.
Births January 2 – Kane Tanaka, supercentenarian (oldest verified Japanese person and the second oldest verified person ever) (d. 2022) January 7 – Mori Mari, author (d. 1987) January 25 – Fumiko Kaneko, anarchist (d. 1926) February 3 – Yasutarō Yagi, screenwriter (d. 1987) February 5 – Koto Matsudaira, diplomat (d. 1994) February 18 – Tokihiko Okada, silent film actor (d. 1934) March 6 – Empress Kōjun, empress consort of Emperor Hirohito (d. 2000) March 30 – Chiezō Kataoka, actor (d. 1983) April 11 - Misuzu Kaneko, poet (d. 1930) May 19 - Shimoe Akiyama, Japanese supercentenarian (d. 2019) June 8 – Yukie Chiri, Ainu transcriber and translator (d. 1922) June 22 – Jiro Horikoshi, aircraft designer and engineer (d. 1982) August 3 – Roppa Furukawa, film actor (d. 1961) September 7 – Kensaku Shimaki, writer (d. 1945) September 28 – Tateo Katō, fighter ace (d. 1942) October 1 – Yoshiyuki Tsuruta, Olympic swimmer (d. 1986) October 13 – Takiji Kobayashi, writer (d. 1933) November 3 – Shizue Shiono, film actor (d. 1962) December 12 – Yasujirō Ozu, film director and screenwriter (d. 1963) December 31 – Fumiko Hayashi, writer (d. 1951)
Deaths February 18 Prince Komatsu Akihito, Field Marshal, Chief of the General Staff (b. 1846) Onoe Kikugorō V, kabuki actor (b. 1844) April 28 – Saigō Tanomo, Shinto priest, martial artist and former Samurai (b. 1830) May 22 – Misao Fujimura, student and poet (b. 1886) June 29 – Rentarō Taki, pianist (b. 1879) August 27 – Kusumoto Ine, physician, first female doctor of Western medicine in Japan (b. 1827) September 13 – Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, kabuki actor (b. 1838) October 30 – Ozaki Kōyō, author (b. 1868)
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