The year 1912 is recorded in Japan both as the 45th year of Meiji Era and the first year of the Taisho Era. After a protracted illness, Emperor Mutsuhito expired, age 61, on the night of July 29 (although the official announcement came the next day). Through the remainder of the summer, the front pages of major newspapers bore black borders until the posthumously renamed Meiji Emperor's public funeral on Sept. 17.
The year proved eventful in numerous other ways. In March, the forerunner of the Japan Tourist Bureau (JTB) was founded. In July, construction began on the Tsutenkaku Tower in Osaka, a replica of the Eiffel Tower that was to last until it was destroyed in a U.S. bombing raid in 1943. In September, the film studio Nihon Katsudo Shashin (today's famed Nikkatsu) was established.
At precisely 12 noon each day, Tokyoites were informed of the time — as indeed they had been since 1871, and would be for another decade — by a cannon salvo known as the Marunouchi no don (Marunouchi blast), which was fired from atop a hill in the grounds of the Imperial Palace overlooking the new Marunouchi business district.