1931 in Japan

← 1930 1929 1928 1931 in Japan → 1932 1933 1934
Decades:	1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s
See also:	Other events of 1935 History of Japan Timeline Years

Events in the year 1931 in Japan .

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito ^[1]
• Prime Minister:
  • Osachi Hamaguchi: until April 14
  • Wakatsuki Reijirō: April 14 – December 13
  • Inukai Tsuyoshi: from December 13

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture:
  • starting 20 January: Masao Oka
  • 20 January-21 December: Kosaka Masayasu
  • until 21 December: Yujiro Osaki
• Akita Prefecture: Koki Hiegata (until 18 December); Takeshi Uchida (starting 18 December)
• Aomori Prefecture: Migaku Moriya (until 18 December); Teizaburo Miyamoto (starting 18 December)
• Ehime Prefecture: Koichiro Sasai (until 18 December); Kume Shigeo (starting 18 December)
• Fukui Prefecture: Tachibana Saitanao (until 18 December); Keizo Ichimura (starting 18 December)
• Fukushima Prefecture:
  • until 15 April: Koyanagi Makimamoru
  • 15 April-18 December: Goro Kawasaki
  • starting 18 December: Murai Hachiro
• Gifu Prefecture:
  • until 8 May: Ken Usawa
  • 8 May-18 December: Yoshida Katsutaro
  • starting 18 December: Takehiko Ito
• Gunma Prefecture:
  • until 27 June: Hotta Kanae
  • 27 June-18 December: Kiichi Harata
  • starting 18 December: Masao Kanazawa
• Hiroshima Prefecture:
  • until 8 May: Hiroshi Kawabuchi
  • 8 May-18 December: Takekai Shirane
  • starting 18 December: Ryo Chiba
• Ibaraki Prefecture:
  • until 27 June: Shozo Ushijima
  • 27 June-18 December: Tanaka
  • starting 18 December: Seikichi Kimishima
• Ishikawa Prefecture: Nakano Kunikazu (until month unknown)
• Iwate Prefecture: Toyoshiro Kubo (until 18 December); Hidehiko Ishiguro (starting 18 December)
• Kagawa Prefecture:
  • until 27 June: Susumu Tsuboi
  • 27 June-18 December: Yusai Takahashi
  • starting 18 December: Akira Ito
• Kanagawa Prefecture: Jiro Yamagata (until month unknown)
• Kochi Prefecture:
  • until 27 June: Tanaka
  • 27 June-18 December: Tsuboi
  • starting 18 December: Kodora Akamatsu
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Bunpei Motoyama (until 18 December); Kenichi Yamashita (starting 18 December)
• Kyoto Prefecture:
  • until October: Sasaki Shinichi
  • October-December: Shinya Kurosaki
  • starting December: Sukenari Yokoyama
• Mie Prefecture: Keizo Ichimura (until 18 December); Hirose Hisatada (starting 18 December)
• Miyagi Prefecture: Michio Yuzawa
• Miyazaki Prefecture:
  • until 18 December: Ariyoshi
  • 18 December-21 December: Kiyoshi Nakarai
  • starting 21 December: Gisuke Kinoshita
• Nagano Prefecture: Shintaro Suzuki (until 18 December); Ishigaki Kuraji (starting 18 December)
• Niigata Prefecture:
• until 2 October: Toyoji Obata
• 2 October-18 December: Nakano Kunikazu
• starting 18 December: Obata Toyoji
• Okinawa Prefecture: Jiro Ino
• Osaka Prefecture: Saito Munenori (starting month unknown)
• Saga Prefecture:
  • until 18 December: Inoue
  • 20 January-18 December: Nakarai Kiyoshi
  • starting 18 December: Saburo Hayakawa
• Saitama Prefecture:
  • until 15 April: Niwa Shichiro
  • 15 April-18 December: Kozo Yamanaka
  • starting 18 December: Umekichi Miyawaki
• Shiname Prefecture:
  • until 21 August: Keiichi Omori
  • 21 August-18 December: Kanichi Misawa
  • starting 18 December: Rinsaku Yagi
• Tochigi Prefecture:
  • until 27 January: Harada
  • 20 January-27 December: Asari Saburo
  • starting 27 December: Chokichi Toshima
• Tokyo: Torataro Shizuka (until 18 October); Hasegawa Hisakazu (starting 18 October)
• Toyama Prefecture: Kozo Yamanaka (until 15 April); Keiichi Suzuki (starting 15 April)
• Yamagata Prefecture:
  • until 24 October: Kubota Osamu Kosuke
  • 24 October-18 December: Ken Yamaguchi
  • starting 18 December: Sada Kawamura

Events

• March - March Incident
• March 27 – A real estate brand, Shōei Corporation was founded, as predecessor for Hullic.^{[ citation needed ]}
• June 5 – 1931 Empress of Canada stabbings: A man killed 2 and wounded 29 others with a knife aboard the Canadian Pacific Steamships liner RMS Empress of Canada as the ship sailed off Japan. ^[2]
• June 27 - Nakamura Incident
• July 1 - Wanpaoshan Incident
• September 21 – A Richer Scale magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit in Yorii, Saitama Prefecture. According to Japanese government official confirmed report, killing 16 persons, 146 persons were wounded.^{[ page needed ]}
• October 21 - October Incident
• November 4 - Resistance at Nenjiang Bridge
• November 4–18 - Jiangqiao Campaign
• Unknown date
  • Teikyo Commerce School, later Teikyo University was founded in Tokyo.^{[ page needed ]}
  • A time recorder and robot brand, Amano was founded in Yokohama, as predecessor name of Amano Manufacturing.^{[ page needed ]}
  • A mail order cram school, Jitsuryoku-Zōshinsha (Ability Promotion), as predecessor of Zōshinsha Holdings (Z-kai) was founded. ^[3]

Films

• Tokyo Chorus

Births

January–March

• January 2 – Toshiki Kaifu, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2022)
• January 6 – Kaoru Yachigusa, actress (d. 2019)
• January 20 – Ariyoshi Sawako, writer (d. 1984)
• January 21 – Yoshiko Kuga, actress (d. 2024)
• January 28 – Sakyo Komatsu, science fiction writer (d. 2011)
• February 16 – Ken Takakura, actor (d. 2014)
• March 7 – Atsuko Ikeda, fourth daughter of Emperor Shōwa
• March 9 – Masahiro Shinoda, film director (d. 2025)

April–June

• April 11 – Koichi Sugiyama, composer and conductor (d. 2021)
• May 10 – Ichirō Nagai, voice actor (d. 2014)
• June 22 – Teruyuki Okazaki, black belt in Shotokan Karate (d. 2020)

July–September

• July 5 – Ryuzo Sato, economist
• July 11 – Yasuo Ōtsuka, animator (d. 2021)
• August 29 – Ichikawa Raizō VIII, actor (d. 1969)
• August 30 – Jōji Yanami, voice actor
• September 17 – Ayako Sono, writer (d. 2021)
• September 21 – Syukuro Manabe, Japanese-American meteorologist and climatologist ^[4]

October–December

• October 24 – Ken Utsui, actor (d. 2014)
• November 29 – Shintaro Katsu, actor (d. 1997)
• December 5 – Kyōko Kagawa, actress
• December 11 – Fujiko Yamamoto, actress
• December 15 – Shuntarō Tanikawa, poet and translator
• December 19 – Reiko Sato, actress and dancer (d. 1981)
• December 31 – Sakata Tōjūrō IV, kabuki actor (d. 2020)

Full date unknown

• Miyozo Yamazaki, amateur archaeologist ^[5]

Deaths

• January 27 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Sumo wrestler, 25th yokozuna (b. 1880)
• June 13 – Kitasato Shibasaburō, physician and bacteriologist (b. 1853)
• June 26 – Yamakawa Kenjirō, physicist, university president (b. 1854)
• August 2 – Kinue Hitomi, sprinter and long jumper (b. 1907)
• August 26 – Osachi Hamaguchi, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1870)
• September 2 – Ichinohe Hyoe, general (b. 1855)
• November 11 – Shibusawa Eiichi, industrialist (b. 1840)

See also

• 1931 in Japanese football
• List of Japanese films of the 1930s

References

1. "Hirohito | Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
2. "Honolulu Man Slashes 31 on Vessel at Sea". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 5 June 1931. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
3. ja:Z会#沿革 (Japanese language edition) Retrieved on June 18, 2020.
4. "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2021". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
5. Grossfeld, Stan (Mar 23, 1997). ""The nail that sticks up gets hammered down," So warns a proverb in conformist Japan. Some "nails," though, refuse to bend". Boston Globe. Retrieved 28 September 2011.^{[ dead link ‍]}