1923 in Japan explained

Events in the year 1923 in Japan. It corresponds to Taishō 12 (大正12年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

• Emperor

Taishō^[1]

• Regent

Hirohito

• Prime Minister

• • Katō Tomosaburō (until August 24)
  • Yamamoto Gonnohyōe (from September 2)

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture

Hikoji Kawaguchi (until 16 June); Masahiro Ota (starting 16 June)

• Akita Prefecture: Masao Kishimoto
• Aomori Prefecture: Yujiro Ozaki (until 25 October); Kazue Baba (starting 25 October)
  • • Ehime Prefecture: Juunosuke Miyazaki Fukui Prefecture: Josuke Shiraogawa Fukushima Prefecture: Iwata Mamoru (until 25 October); Kosaka Masayasu (starting 25 October)
    • Gifu Prefecture: Manpei Ueda Gunma Prefecture: Yamaoka Kunitoshi Hiroshima Prefecture

Kamehiko Abe (until 25 October); Jiro Yamagata (starting 25 October)

• Ibaraki Prefecture

Genjiro Moriya (until 25 October); Shohei Fujinuma (starting 25 October)

• • Iwate Prefecture: Ushidzuka Torataro Kagawa Prefecture: Shuji Sasaki (until 25 October); Nakagawa Kenzo (starting 25 October)
• Kanagawa Prefecture

• Kochi Prefecture: Toyoji Obata (until 25 October); Fujioka Hyoichi (starting 25 October)
• Kumamoto Prefecture

Tadahiko Okada (until 12 October); Chisato Tanaka (starting 12 October)

• Kyoto Prefecture

• Mie Prefecture: Saburo Shibata (until 25 October); Tago Ilman (starting 25 October)
• Miyagi Prefecture

• Miyazaki Prefecture: Muneyoshi Oshiba (until 25 October); Saito Munenori (starting 25 October)
• Nagano Prefecture

Toshio Honma

• Niigata Prefecture

Ota Masahiro (until 11 June); Ohara Sanarata (starting 11 June)

• Okayama Prefecture

Masao Kishimoto

• Okinawa Prefecture

Jyun Wada (until 25 October); Ki Iwamoto (starting 25 October)

• Saga Prefecture

• Saitama Prefecture

Horiuchi Hidetaro (until 25 October); Motoda Tashio (starting 25 October)'

• Shiga Prefecture

Kaiichiro Suematsu (starting month unknown)

• Shiname Prefecture: Sanehide Takarabe (until 25 October); Naganobu Ren (starting 25 October)
• Tochigi Prefecture: Haruki Yamawaki
• Tokyo

• • Toyama Prefecture: Kihachiro Ito Yamagata Prefecture: Agata Shinobu

Events

• April unknown date  - Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical was founded, as predecessor part of Astellas Pharma.
• May 21–25  - 1923 Far Eastern Games held in Osaka.^[2]
• August 24  - Prime Minister Katō Tomosaburō dies in office.
• August 29  - Fuji Electric Manufacturing, later Fuji Electric was founded.
• September 1  - The Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing an estimated 142,807 people, but according to a Japanese construction research center report in 2005, 105,000 are confirmed dead. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes.^[3]
• September 1-21 - Kantō Massacre: Young Japanese vigilante groups, driven by rumors of a Korean revolt, attack and murder thousands of Korean residents.
• September 2
  • Yamamoto Gonnohyōe is appointed Prime Minister of Japan.
  • Martial law declared in Tokyo districts
• September 3 - 5  - Kameido incident
• September 4  - The area of martial law is expanded to cover all of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama prefectures.
• September 7  - A Curfew is issued in Tokyo.
• September 16  - Amakasu Incident: The feminist Noe Itō and her partner, the anarchist Sakae Ōsugi are beaten and killed by a police squadron led by Lieutenant Amakasu Masahiko, along with Ōsugi's six-year-old nephew, and their bodies disposed in a well. Following countrywide outcry, Amakasu was court-martialed and sentenced to 10 years in prison.^[4]
• December 27  - Toranomon Incident: An assassination attempt is made on the crown prince Hirohito in Tokyo by Daisuke Namba, but the attempt fails.
• Unknown date  - Yamanouchi Pharmacy, as predecessor of Astellas was founded.

Births

• March 27  - Shūsaku Endō, writer (d. 1996)
• May 24  - Seijun Suzuki, filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
• June 4  - Yuriko, Princess Mikasa, wife of Prince Takahito
• August 7  - Ryōtarō Shiba, writer (d. 1996)
• October 7  - Tomio Aoki, film actor (d. 2004)

Deaths

• January 8  - Shimamura Hayao, Marine Admiral (b. 1858)
• February 3  - Kuroki Tamemoto general (b. 1844)
• February 4  - Prince Fushimi Sadanaru, Field Marshal (b. 1858)
• April 1  - Prince Naruhisa Kitashirakawa, military personnel (b. 1887)
• June 9
  • Takeo Arishima, novelist, writer and essayist (suicide) (b. 1878)
  • Akiko Hatano, journalist (suicide) (b. 1894)
• June 19  - Shō Shō, member of the House of Peers (b. 1888)
• August 24  - Katō Tomosaburō, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1861)
• September 1  - Matsuoka Yasukowa, politician and cabinet minister (B. 1846)
• September 2  - Kuriyagawa Hakuson, literary critic (b. 1880)
• September 16
  • Noe Itō, anarchist, social critic and author (b. 1895)
  • Sakae Ōsugi, anarchist (b. 1885)
• November 8  - Fusakichi Omori, seismologist (b. 1868)
• November 26  - Otani Kikuzo, general (b. 1856)
• December 29  - Kōno Hironaka, politician (b. 1849)

See also

• List of Japanese films of the 1920s

Notes and References

1. Web site: Taishō emperor of Japan . Encyclopedia Britannica . 27 March 2019 . en.
2. Book: Bell . Daniel . Encyclopedia of international games . 2003 . McFarland & Co . Jefferson, N.C. . 0-7864-1026-4 . 474.
3. Web site: James . Charles . The 1923 Tokyo Earthquake and Fire . University of California, Berkeley . 21 December 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070316050633/http://nisee.berkeley.edu/kanto/tokyo1923.pdf . 16 March 2007 .
4. Book: Cybriwsky, Roman. Historical Dictionary of Tokyo. 2011. Scarecrow Press. 978-0-8108-7489-3. 21.