1898 in Japan

← 1897 1896 1895 1898 in Japan → 1899 1900 1901
Decades:	1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s
See also:	Other events of 1898 History of Japan Timeline Years

Events from the year 1898 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 31 (明治31年) in the Japanese calendar.

The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898

Incumbents

• Emperor: Emperor Meiji
• Prime Minister:
  • Matsukata Masayoshi: until January 12:
  • Itō Hirobumi: January 12 – June 30
  • Ōkuma Shigenobu: June 30 – November 8
  • Yamagata Aritomo: starting November 8

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture: Egi Kazuyuki then Baron Mori Mamoru
• Akita Prefecture: Saburo Iwao
• Aomori Prefecture: Ichiro Konoshu
• Ehime Prefecture: Park Shin Maki Naomasa then Goro Shinozaki then Oba Kan'ichi
• Fukui Prefecture: Shingo Seki
• Fukushima Prefecture: Kimumichi Nagusami
• Gifu Prefecture: Yoshinori Yumoto then Anraku Kanemichi
• Gunma Prefecture: Masataka Ishizata
• Hiroshima Prefecture: Asada Tokunori then Baron Takatoshi Iwamura then Hattori Ichizo then Asada Tokunori
• Ibaraki Prefecture: Motohiro Onada then Prince Kiyoshi Honba
• Ishikawa Prefecture: Shiba Sankarasu
• Iwate Prefecture: Ichizo Hattori then Suehiro Naokata
• Kagawa Prefecture: Tsunenori Tokuhisa then Ryosuke Ono then Yoshihara Saburo
• Kochi Prefecture: Hiroshi Shikakui
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Kanetake Oura
• Kyoto Prefecture: Utsumi Tadakatsu
• Mie Prefecture: Terumi Tanabe then Yuji Rika
• Miyagi Prefecture: Viscount Kanetake Oura then Kiyoshi Shin
• Miyazaki Prefecture: Senda Sadakatsuki
• Nagano Prefecture: Gondo Ka'nichi
• Niigata Prefecture: Minoru Katsumata
• Oita Prefecture: Shigetoo Sugimoto then Nori Oshikawa
• Okinawa Prefecture: Shigeru Narahara
• Osaka Prefecture: Nobumichi Yamada
• Saga Prefecture: Takeuchi then Yasuhiko Hirayama then Takeuchi then Seki Kiyohide
• Saitama Prefecture: Munakata Tadashi then Hanai Hagiwara
• Shiname Prefecture: Hikoji Nakamura then Chuzo Kono
• Tochigi Prefecture: Sento Kiyoshi then Hagino Samon
• Tokyo: Viscount Okabe Nagahon then Koizuka Furo then Baron Sangay Takatomi
• Toyama Prefecture: Tsurayuki Ishida then Hiroshi Abe then Kaneoryo Gen
• Yamagata Prefecture: Nori Oshikawa then Sone Shizuo

Events

• January Unknown date – A construction brand, Kumagai Gumi was founded in Fukui City.
• January 12 – Ito Hirobumi begins his third term as Prime Minister.
• March 15 – March 1898 Japanese general election
• August 10 – September 1898 Japanese general election
• The first automobile (a Panhard-Levassor) is introduced in Japan.

Births

• February 4 – Shinsui Itō, Nihonga painter (d. 1972)
• February 9 – Jūkichi Yagi, poet (d. 1927)
• February 15 – Masuji Ibuse, author (d. 1993)
• March 17 – Riichi Yokomitsu, writer (d. 1947)
• April 28 – Yuzo Saeki, painter (d. 1928)
• April 29 – Iwao Yamawaki, photographer (d. 1987)
• October 5 – Kenzō Masaoka, anime creator (d. 1988)
• October 17 – Shinichi Suzuki, violinist, (d. 1998)
• October 31 – Yoshitoshi Mori, artist (d. 1992)
• December 11 – Tarō Shōji, popular song singer (d. 1972)
• December 12 – Denji Kuroshima, author (d. 1943)
• December 27 – Inejiro Asanuma, politician, leader of the Japan Socialist Party (d. 1960)

Deaths

• November 12 – Nakahama Manjirō, translator and castaway (b. 1827)