1896 in Japan

Incumbents

• Monarch: Emperor Meiji
• Prime Minister:
• *Itō Hirobumi
• *Kuroda Kiyotaka
• *Matsukata Masayoshi

  Events

• June 15 - Sanriku earthquake: One of the most destructive seismic events in Japanese history. The 8.5 magnitude earthquake occurred at 19:32 on June 15, 1896, 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 was founded.
• Unknown date - Penta-Ocean construction company founded

  Births

• April 22 - Chishō Takaoka, geisha, writer, and nun
• May 11 - Toshiko, Princess Yasu, daughter of Emperor Meiji
• July 28 - Takeru Inukai, politician and novelist
• August 27 - Kenji Miyazawa, author and poet
• November 13 - Nobusuke Kishi, politician and Prime Minister of Japan

  Deaths

• February 28 - Tazawa Inabune, writer
• November 23 - Ichiyō Higuchi, writer