1904 in Japan explained

Events in the year 1904 in Japan. It corresponds to Meiji 37 (明治37年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

• Emperor

Emperor Meiji^[1]

• Prime Minister

Katsura Tarō

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture

Masaaki Nomura

• Akita Prefecture: Ichiro Tsubaki then Oka Kishichiro Itami
• Aomori Prefecture: Ichiji Yamanouchi then Katsutaro Inuzuka then Shotaro Nishizawa
• Ehime Prefecture: Tai Neijro then Makoto Sugai then Kensuke Ando
• Fukui Prefecture: Suke Sakamoto
• Fukushima Prefecture: Arita Yoshisuke
• Gifu Prefecture: Kawaji Toshikyo
• Gunma Prefecture: Yoshimi Teru
• Hiroshima Prefecture

Tokuhisa Tsunenori then Yamada Shunzō

• Ibaraki Prefecture

Teru Terahara

• Iwate Prefecture: Ganri Hojo then Sokkichi Oshikawa
• Kagawa Prefecture: Motohiro Onoda
• Kochi Prefecture: Munakata Tadashi
• Kumamoto Prefecture

Egi Kazuyuki

• Kyoto Prefecture

Baron Shoichi Omori

• Mie Prefecture: Kamon Furusha then Lord Arimitsu Hideyoshi
• Miyagi Prefecture

Terumi Tanabe

• • Miyazaki Prefecture: Toda Tsunetaro Nagano Prefecture

• Niigata Prefecture

Hiroshi Abe

• Oita Prefecture: Marques Okubo Toshi Takeshi then Shuichi Kinoshita then Ogura Hisashi
• Okinawa Prefecture

Shigeru Narahara

• Saga Prefecture

Seki Kiyohide

• Saitama Prefecture

Count Jissho Oogimachi then Marquis Okubo Toshi Takeshi

• Shiga Prefecture

Sada Suzuki

• Shiname Prefecture: Ihara Ko then Matsunaga Takeyoshi
  • Tochigi Prefecture: Kubota Kiyochika Tokushima Prefecture: Saburo Iwao
• Tokyo

Baron Sangay Takatomi

• Toyama Prefecture: Rika Ryusuke
  • Yamagata Prefecture: Tanaka Takamichi Yamanashi Prefecture: Takeda Chiyosaburo

Events

• February 8–9  - Battle of Port Arthur: A surprise Japanese naval attack on Port Arthur (Lüshun) in Manchuria starts the Russo-Japanese War.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}
• February 9  - Battle of Chemulpo Bay^{[6] [7] [8]}
• February 23  - Japan–Korea Treaty of 1904^[9]
• April 30 - May 1  - Battle of Yalu River (1904)^{[10] [11] [12] [13] [14]}
• May 25–26  - Battle of Nanshan^[15]
• June 14 - 15  - Battle of Te-li-Ssu^[16]
• July 10  - Battle of Motien Pass
• July 24 - 25  - Battle of Tashihchiao
• July 31  - Battle of Hsimucheng
• August 10  - Battle of the Yellow Sea
• August 14  - Battle off Ulsan
• August 20  - Battle of Korsakov
• August 22  - Japan–Korea Agreement of August 1904
• August 24 - September 4  - Battle of Liaoyang
• October 5 - 17  - Battle of Shaho
• Unknown date  - Hirano Rubber Manufacturing, as predecessor of Toyo Tire was founded.

Births

• February 9  - Kikuko Kawakami, author (d. 1985)
• May 27  - Chūhei Nambu, track and field athlete (d. 1997)
• June 1  - Ineko Sata, communist and feminist author of proletarian literature (d. 1998)^[17]
• July 18  - Fuji Yahiro, screenwriter (d. 1986)^[18]
• July 25  - Katsuji Matsumoto, illustrator (d. 1986)
• August 7  - Taro Takemi, physician and 11th President of the Japan Medical Association (d. 1983)
• August 16  - Minoru Genda, military aviator and politician (d. 1989)
• September 1  - Aya Kōda, essayist and novelist (d. 1990)^[19]
• October 11  - Ken'ichi Enomoto, comedian and singer (d. 1970)
• November 18  - Masao Koga, composer (d. 1978)
• November 22  - Fumio Niwa, novelist (d. 2005)
• December 28  - Tatsuo Hori, writer, poet and translator (d. 1953)

Deaths

• January 1  - Konoe Atsumaro, politician and journalist (b. 1863)^[20]
• January 9  - Ii Naonori, former daimyō, son of Ii Naosuke (b. 1848)
• February 6  - Utagawa Yoshiiku, artist (b. 1833)^[21]
• March 27  - Takeo Hirose, navy career officer (b. 1868)^{[22] [23]}
• August 12  - Kawamura Sumiyoshi, admiral (b. 1836)
• August 31  - Tachibana Shūta, soldier (b. 1865)
• September 26  - Koizumi Yakumo, writer (b. 1850)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Meiji emperor of Japan . Encyclopedia Britannica . 27 March 2019 . en.
2. News: JAPANESE TORPEDO BOATS FIGHT RUSSIANS AT PORT ARTHUR BALTIMORE BUSINESS DISTRICT WHOLLY WRECKED BY FLAMES MERCHANT SHIPS TAKEN BY MEN-OF-WAR OF THE MIKADO'S GOVERNMENT . XXXI . 133 . 9 February 1904 . Page 1, columns 1-3 . . 11 January 2022 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
3. News: 1904 Arlington Journal . . 23 . 29 December 2021 .
4. Book: Tyler, Sydney . The Japan-Russia War: An Illustrated History of the War in the Far East, the Greatest Conflict of Modern Times . 54-61 . . P. W. Ziegler Co. . 1905 . 26 December 2021 . Internet Archive.
5. News: Port Arthur Was 'the Pearl Harbor of 1904': While Officers and Men of Russian Fleet Were Attending a Reception the Japanese Navy Slipped Into Harbor and Attacked Czar's Ships Two Days Before Declaring War . https://web.archive.org/web/20160515202140/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19420119&id=-e4ZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8SIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4412,1516787 . 15 May 2016 . Butcher . Clifford F. . . 19 January 1942 . 8 . 25 December 2021 . Google News and Internet Archive.
6. News: SAVAGE ATTACKS BY JAPAN COST RUSSIA SEVEN SHIPS CRUISERS CAUGHT IN CHEMULPO HARBOR AND DESTROYED STORY OF THE RUSSIANS' DEFEAT . XXXI . 134 . 10 February 1904 . Page 1, columns 1-7 . Los Angeles Herald . 11 January 2022 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
7. News: RUSSIAN VESSELS ARE DESTROYED AT CHEMULPO . XXXI . 134 . 10 February 1904 . Page 1, columns 1-2 . Los Angeles Herald . 11 January 2022 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
8. Tyler, pp. 61-65.
9. Book: Korea's Appeal to the Conference on Limitation of Armament . . . 1922 . 34 . 26 December 2021 . Google Books.
10. News: PITCHED BATTLE RAGING ON YALU Japanese Main Army in Russian Territory Has Skirmished Five Days and Will Strike Enemy Today . XXXI . 215 . 1 May 1904 . Page 1, columns 2-3; page 2, columns 1-2 . Los Angeles Herald . 23 February 2022 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
11. News: CONTINUOUS FIGHTING ON YALU RIVER Japanese Attack the Russian Position. Slavs Confine Their Efforts to Harassing Enemy's Advance. Mikado's Troops Are Pouring Across the Stream in the Face of a Heavy Fire. . XCV . 153 . 1 May 1904 . Page 25, column 4; page 26, column 4 . . 1 March 2022 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
12. News: JAPANESE CAPTURE RUSSIAN INTRENCHMENTS AFTER DESPERATE FIGHTING ON YALU'S BANKS . XCV . 154 . 2 May 1904 . Page 1, columns 1-7; page 2, columns 3-4 . . 17 March 2022 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
    • News: RUSSIANS ATTRIBUTE DEFEAT TO FOE'S SUPERIOR NUMBERS . XCV . 154 . 2 May 1904 . Page 2, columns 1-5 . San Francisco Call . 17 March 2022 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
    • News: St. Petersburg Staff Asserts Yalu Engagement Was Not Decisive. . XCV . 154 . 2 May 1904 . Page 2, columns 1-2 . San Francisco Call . 17 March 2022 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
13. Garner . J. W. . Record of Political Events. . . 19 . 4 . . December 1904 . 717–48 . 10.2307/2140340 . 2140340 . 24 March 2022 . JSTOR.
14. Tyler, pp. 177-196.
15. Tyler, pp. 240-246.
16. News: 1000 RUSSIANS SLAIN IN FURIOUS BATTLE NEAR PORT ARTHUR Slavs, Leaving Guns, Retreat in Disorder RUSSIANS IN FULL FLIGHT Naval Battle Rages in the Strait of Korea JAP TRANSPORTS REPORTED SUNK . XXXI . 261 . 16 June 1904 . Page 3, columns 1-7 . Los Angeles Herald . 25 December 2022 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
17. News: Obituary: Ineko Sata . Kirkup . James . James Kirkup . . Culture . 29 October 1998 . 30 July 2022.
18. Web site: 八尋不二（読み）やひろ ふじ . Fuji Yahiro . . DIGITALIO, Inc. . ja . 23 January 2023.
19. Book: Sherif, Ann . Mirror: The Fiction and Essays of Kōda Aya . . 1999 . 9780824821814.
20. Web site: Konoe, Atsumaro (1863 - 1904) . Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures . . 2013 . en . 21 December 2021.
21. Web site: Yoshiiku Utagawa . artelino . 27 December 2021.
22. News: TOGO LAUDS TWO HEROES OF HIS FLEET Recounts the Bravery of Men Killed in Action at Port Arthur. Commander Hirose Struck by a Shell While Leaving Sinking Vessel. Movement Is Instituted to Erect a Monument to His Memory. . 95 . 122 . 31 March 1904 . Page 5, column 2 . San Francisco Call . 10 February 2022 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
23. Web site: HIROSE, Takeo . The Russo-Japanese War Research Society . 2002 . russojapanesewar.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20061031113825/http://www.russojapanesewar.com/hirose.html . 31 October 2006 . 19 January 2022.