Meiji 36 (明治三十六年)
Timeline of 1903
- 1903/4/20 The Fifth Domestic Exposition in Osaka opens.
- The exhibition will be the last Domestic Exposition to be held. It includes a "Pavilion of Mankind" (Jinruikan) organized by anthropologist Tsuboi Shôgorô, in which Ainu, Taiwanese aborigines, Koreans, and others are put on display. The Okinawans refuse to go on display.
- 1903/5 Ichikawa Danjûrô IX appears on stage for the last time.
Other Events of 1903
- The Early Institutional Life of Japan: A Study in the Reform of 645 A.D., by Kan'ichi Asakawa, is published.
- Japan is officially recognized by the international community as an independent sovereign state under international law, as the result of a decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
- Iha Fuyû enters the Linguistics Dept of Tokyo University, where he specializes in studying the Okinawan language and the Omoro sôshi.
- Land reforms in Okinawa prefecture end the paying of taxes in kind, implementing a modern strictly monetary system of taxation.
- James Murdoch's History of Japan is published.
- The Ideals of the East, by Okakura Kakuzô, is published.
- Prominent Americans interested in Japan and prominent Japanese in America is published.
- Russia promises to withdraw its troops from Manchuria, in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion, but does not do so.
Births and Deaths
- 1903/1/22 Tachikawa Chikara dies (b. 1835).
- 1903/4/28 Saigô Tanomo dies (b.1830).
- 1903/6/17 Ishii Yûjirô of the Shinsengumi dies (b. 1846).
- 1903/8/27 Oine, daughter of Philipp Franz von Siebold, dies (b. 1827).
- 1903/9/13 Ichikawa Danjûrô IX dies (b. 1838).
- Print artist Munakata Shikô is born (d. 1975).
- Yagi Gennojô dies (b. 1814).
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