Events in the year 1896 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 29 (明治29年) in the Japanese calendar.
Incumbents Monarch: Emperor Meiji Prime Minister: Itō Hirobumi (until August 31) Kuroda Kiyotaka (acting) (August 31 – September 18) Matsukata Masayoshi (from September 18)
Governors Aichi Prefecture: Tokito Konkyo Akita Prefecture: Yasuhiko Hirayama then Saburo Iwao Aomori Prefecture: Masa Sawa then Naomasa Maki Ehime Prefecture: Chang Masaya Komaki Fukui Prefecture: Kunizo Arakawa Fukushima Prefecture: Yasutaro Hara then Ogura Nobuchika then Akiyama Gifu Prefecture: Sukeo Kabayama Gunma Prefecture: Motootoko Nakamura then Abe Hiroshi then Masataka Ishizata Hiroshima Prefecture: Nabeshima Miki then Orita Heinai Ibaraki Prefecture: Egi Kazuyuki then Motohiro Onoda Iwate Prefecture: Ichizo Hattori Kagawa Prefecture: Ichizo Fukano then Tsunenori Tokuhisa Kochi Prefecture: Ishida Eikichi then Hiroshi Shikakui Kumamoto Prefecture: Matsudaira Masanao then Kanetake Oura Kyoto Prefecture: Baron Nobumichi Yamada Mie Prefecture: Terumi Tanabe Miyagi Prefecture: Terumi Tanabe Nagano Prefecture: Takasaki Chikaaki Niigata Prefecture: Baron Seung Zhi Kuwata Oita Prefecture: Tameharu Yamada then Yasuhiko Hirayama Okinawa Prefecture: Shigeru Narahara Osaka Prefecture: Utsumi Tadakatsu Saga Prefecture: Takeuchi Saitama Prefecture: Teru Tanabe then Tomi Senketaka Shiname Prefecture: Michio Sokabe Tochigi Prefecture: Egi Kazuyuki Tokyo: Miura Yasushi then Marquis Michitsune Koga Toyama Prefecture: Tokuhisa Tsunenori then Ando Kinsuke Yamagata Prefecture: Shuichi Kinoshita
Events June 15 – Sanriku earthquake: One of the most destructive seismic events in Japanese history. The 8.5 magnitude earthquake occurred at 19:32 (local time), approximately off the coast of Iwate Prefecture, Honshu. It resulted in two tsunamis which destroyed about 9,000 homes and caused at least 22,000 deaths. The waves reached a record height of ; more than a meter lower than those created after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake which triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. December 28 – Nippon Flower Mills (Nipun) was founded. Unknown date – Penta-Ocean construction company founded Unknown date – Kotaro Mikamo reports the first results of a double-eyelid procedure for aesthetic purposes.
Births January 1 – Hankyu Sasaki, admiral (d. 1971) April 22 – Chishō Takaoka, geisha, writer, and nun (d. 1994) May 11 – Toshiko, Princess Yasu, daughter of Emperor Meiji (d. 1978) July 28 – Takeru Inukai, politician and novelist (d. 1960) August 27 – Kenji Miyazawa, author and poet (d. 1933) November 13 – Nobusuke Kishi, politician and Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1987)
Deaths February 28 – Tazawa Inabune, writer (b. 1874) November 23 – Ichiyō Higuchi, writer (b. 1872)
References