1904

The year 1904 in Japanese history and events related to Japan that occurred in this year.

Contents 1 1904 Politics 2 1904 Births 3 1904 Deaths 4 1904 Entertainment 5 1904 Sports 6 1904 Business 7 1904 Other

1904 Politics

• Emperor: Emperor Meiji
• Prime Minister: Katsura Taro

1904 Births

• May 27 – Chūhei Nambu

Nambu was a Japanese athlete who broke records in track with the triple jump and the long jump. He joined the Japanese Olympic team in 1928 and almost broke a world record for the long jump.

1904 Deaths

• September 26 – Patrick Lafcadio Hearn

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn was not born Japanese, but became one. In 1890 the writer went to Japan to work as a newspaper correspondent. He discovered inspiration there, and started writing Japanese legends and ghost stories, which he became well-known for. He married Stesu Koizumi, a daughter of a samurai, and became Japanese, receiving the name Koizumi Yakumo. He was responsible for bringing the East to the West.

1904 Entertainment

• March – Camera teams were sent to the Russo-Japanese War front in order to capture the action to see what was going on.
• Glimpses of Japan (movie)

1904 Sports

• No notable events yet found.

1904 Business

• August – The Korean government is forced to sign agreements that install Japanese officials in different parts of Korean ministries. Finance and Foreign Affairs are two of these such ministries.

1904 Other

• Russo-Japanese War

On February 8th, Admiral Heihachiro Togo took his fleet to Port Arthur, which was on the Liaodong Peninsula directly south of Manchuria. Russia had taken over the area and the Japanese fleet wanted to make sure that they kept the Russian troops at bay. Admiral Togo began a surprise torpedo boat attack on the Russian ships, damaging two of their battle ships. This battle escalated and became known as the Battle of Port Arthur.

• April 12 –

Petropavlovsk and Pobeda, two of Russia’s battleships, hit Japanese mines that were directly off of Port Arthur. The Petropavlovsk sank, and the Pobeda was badly damaged. Admiral Makarov, one of Russia’s most effective strategists, died when the Petropavlovsk went down.

• April 15

The Russian Government decided to take a leaf from Japan’s books and laid down their own mines. They quickly sank the Yashima and the Hatsuse off of Port Arthur.

• August 10 –

The Russian fleet decided to break out of Port Arthur, but were turned back by Admiral Togo’s squadron. This became known as the Battle of the Yellow Sea, when both battle ships exchanged gunfire.