Events in the year 1872 in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Incumbents

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

*Empress consort: Empress Shōken

Governors

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

: Iseki Ushitora (starting April 2) *Akita Prefecture:

Shima Yoshitake was a samurai from Saga domain. He later became a chamberlain and later a governor for Akita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; " ...

(January 29-July 29), Sugio Magoshichiro (starting July 29) *Aomori Prefecture: J. Hishida *Fukui Prefecture: Kotobuki Murata *Fukushima Prefecture: ** until January 20: Tomoharu Kiyooka ** January 20-June 2: Miyahara ** starting June 2: Taihe Yasujo *Gifu Prefecture: Joren Hasegawa *Gunma Prefecture: Sada Aoyama *

Hiroshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama ...

Date Muneoki Date Muneoki (1824 – February 9, 1898) was a Japanese politician of the early Meiji period who served as governor of Hiroshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Pref ...

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

: ** until July 10: Yamaguchi ** August 8-August 13: Motsuke Nomura ** starting August 25: Toru Watanabe *Iwate Prefecture: Korekiyo Shima *Kagawa Prefecture: ** until October 17: Mohei Hayashi ** October 17-November 28: Kan'ichi Nakamura ** starting November 28: Mohei Hayashi *Kochi Prefecture: Yuzo Hayashi (until November 26),

Iwasaki Nagatake Iwasaki (岩崎, "rock peninsula") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Akira Iwasaki (岩崎昶), Japanese film critic and producer * Carl Iwasaki, American college baseball coach *Chihiro Iwasaki (いわさきちひろ ...

(starting November 26) * Kyoto Prefecture: Hase Nobuatsu *

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

Ryo Shioya Ryo may refer to: * Ryō, a gold currency unit in pre-Meiji Japan Shakkanhō system * Ryō (actress) (born 1973), Japanese model, actress, and singer * Ryō (given name), a unisex Japanese given name * Ryo, Georgia Ryo is an unincorporated communit ...

(starting January 8) *

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

: Tachiki Kenzen * Niigata Prefecture: Hirimatsu (starting November 20) *Oita Prefecture:

Kei Morishita Kei may refer to: People * Kei (given name) * Kei, Cantonese for Ji(姫) * Kei, Cantonese for Qi(奇, 祁, 亓) * Shō Kei (1700–1752), king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom * Kei (singer) (born 1995), stage name of South Korean singer Kim Ji-yeon * ...

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

: Yotsutsuji Nishi *

Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasak ...

: ** until July 12: Sadao Koga ** July 12-December 22: Tesshu Yamaoka ** starting December 22: Taku Shigeru *

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...

: Morihide Nomura *Shiname Prefecture: ** until March 30: Masami Terada ** March 30-September 27: Tanenori Ikeda ** starting September 27: Kamiyama Ren *Tochigi Prefecture: Miki Nabeshima *

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

: Yuri Kousei (until September 7), Tadahiro Okubo (starting September 7) *Toyama Prefecture: Miyoshi Zhou Liang *Yamagata Prefecture: ......

Events

*''date unknown'' ** Tokyo National Museum is founded. **The Imperial Library is established. ** Tomioka silk mill, Japan's first modern model silk reeling factory, is established by the government. **The

Ryukyu Domain The was a short-lived domain of the Empire of Japan, lasting from 1872 to 1879, before becoming the current Okinawa Prefecture and other islands at the Pacific edge of the East China Sea. When the domain was created in 1872, Japan's feudal han ...

is created when the emperor changes the title of

Shō Tai was the last king of the Ryukyu Kingdom (8 June 1848 – 10 October 1872) and the head of the Ryukyu Domain (10 October 1872 – 27 March 1879). His reign saw greatly increased interactions with travelers from abroad, particularly from Europe a ...

, the Ryukyu Kingdom's monarch (''Ryūkyū-koku-ō''), to that of a domain head (''Ryūkyū-han-ō''). The former Ryukyu Kingdom thus becomes a ''han''.Lin, Man-houng
"The Ryukyus and Taiwan in the East Asian Seas: A Longue Durée Perspective,"
''Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus.'' October 27, 2006, translated and abridged from ''Academia Sinica Weekly,'' No. 1084. 24 August 2006.

Births

*January 22 –

Katai Tayama Katai Tayama (田山花袋 ''Tayama Katai'', 22 January 1872 – 13 May 1930, born Rokuya Tayama) was a Japanese author. His most famous works include ''Inaka Kyōshi'' (田舎教師, "Rural Teacher," also translated "Country Teacher") and ...

, novelist (d.

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

) *March 25 –

Tōson Shimazaki was the pen-name of Haruki Shimazaki, a Japanese writer active in the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa periods of Japan. He began his career as a Romantic poet, but went on to establish himself as a major proponent of Japanese Naturalism. Ea ...

, writer (d.

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

) *May 2 –

Ichiyō Higuchi , real name or , was a Japanese writer from the Meiji Period. She was Japan's first professional female writer of modern literature, specialising in short stories and poetry, and also an extensive diarist. Biography Early life Natsuko Higuchi ...

, writer (d.

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

)

Deaths

*February 10 -

Prince Kitashirakawa Satonari was the founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family. Early life Prince Kitashirakawa Satonari was born in Kyoto, and was the thirteenth son of Prince Fushimi Kuniie (1802–1872), the twentieth head of the Fushimi-no-miya, the ...

, founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family (born

1850 Events January–June * April ** Pope Pius IX returns from exile to Rome. ** Stephen Foster's parlor ballad "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway" is published in the United States. * April 4 – Los Angeles is incorporated as a cit ...

) *March 28 - Nambu Nobuyuki, 9th and final daimyō of Hachinohe Domain (born

1814 Events January * January 1 – War of the Sixth Coalition – The Royal Prussian Army led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher crosses the Rhine. * January 3 ** War of the Sixth Coalition – Siege of Cattaro: French garrison s ...

)

References

{{Asia topic, 1872 in 1870s in Japan Years of the 19th century in Japan