1872 in Japan

Decades:	1850s; 1860s; 1870s; 1880s; 1890s;
See also:	Other events of 1872; History of Japan • Timeline • Years

Events in the year 1872 in Japan.

Incumbents

Aichi Prefecture: Iseki Ushitora (starting April 2)
Akita Prefecture: Shima Yoshitake (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: Date Muneoki
Ibaraki Prefecture:
- 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 (starting November 26)
Kyoto Prefecture: Hase Nobuatsu
Miyagi Prefecture: Ryo Shioya (starting January 8)
Nagano Prefecture: Tachiki Kenzen
Niigata Prefecture: Hirimatsu (starting November 20)
Oita Prefecture: Kei Morishita
Osaka Prefecture: Yotsutsuji Nishi
Saga Prefecture:
- until July 12: Sadao Koga
- July 12-December 22: Tesshu Yamaoka
- starting December 22: Taku Shigeru
Saitama 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: Yuri Kousei (until September 7), Tadahiro Okubo (starting September 7)
Toyama Prefecture: Miyoshi Zhou Liang
Yamagata Prefecture: ......

date unknown
- Tokyo National Museum is founded.^[2]
- The Imperial Library is established.^[3]
- Tomioka silk mill, Japan's first modern model silk reeling factory, is established by the government.
- The Ryukyu Domain is created when the emperor changes the title of Shō Tai, 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.^[4]

February 10 - Prince Kitashirakawa Satonari, founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family (born 1850)
March 28 - Nambu Nobuyuki, 9th and final daimyō of Hachinohe Domain (born 1814)

^ "Meiji | emperor of Japan". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
^ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Museums" in Japan Encyclopedia, pp. 671-673.
^ "History". National Diet Library. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
^ 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.