1949 in Japan

Decades:	1920s ; 1930s ; 1940s ; 1950s ; 1960s ;
See also:	Other events of 1949 ; History of Japan • Timeline • Years

Last updated May 28, 2025

Incumbents

Supreme Commander Allied Powers: Douglas MacArthur
Emperor: Hirohito ^[1]
Prime Minister: Shigeru Yoshida (L–Kōchi, 3rd term from February 16)
Chief Cabinet Secretary: Eisaku Satō (not Diet member→L–Yamaguchi) until February 16, Kaneshichi Masuda (L–Nagano)
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Tadahiko Mibuchi
President of the House of Representatives: vacant until February 11, Kijūrō Shidehara (L–Ōsaka)
President of the House of Councillors: Tsuneo Matsudaira (Ryokufūkai–Fukushima) until November 14, Naotake Satō (Ryokufūkai–Aomori) from November 15
Diet sessions: 5th (special, February 11 to May 31), 6th (extraordinary, October 25 to November (?)), 7th (regular, December 4 to 1950, May 2)

Governors

Aichi Prefecture: Hideo Aoyagi
Akita Prefecture: Kosaku Hasuike
Aomori Prefecture: Bunji Tsushima
Chiba Prefecture: Tamenosuke Kawaguchi
Ehime Prefecture: Juushin Aoki
Fukui Prefecture: Harukazu Obata
Fukuoka Prefecture: Katsuji Sugimoto
Fukushima Prefecture: Kan'ichirō Ishihara (until 30 November); vacant thereafter (starting 30 November)
Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto
Gunma Prefecture: Yoshio Iyoku
Hiroshima Prefecture: Tsunei Kusunose
Hokkaido Prefecture: Toshifumi Tanaka
Hyogo Prefecture: Yukio Kishida
Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue
Ishikawa Prefecture: Wakio Shibano
Iwate Prefecture: Kenkichi Kokubun
Kagawa Prefecture: Keikichi Masuhara
Kagoshima Prefecture: Kaku Shigenari
Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama
Kochi Prefecture: Wakaji Kawamura
Kumamoto Prefecture: Saburō Sakurai
Kyoto Prefecture: Atsushi Kimura
Mie Prefecture: Masaru Aoki
Miyagi Prefecture: Saburō Chiba (until 3 January); Kazuji Sasaki (starting 25 February)
Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadao Annaka
Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi
Nagasaki Prefecture: Sōjirō Sugiyama
Nara Prefecture: Mansaku Nomura
Niigata Prefecture: Shohei Okada
Oita Prefecture: Tokuju Hosoda
Okayama Prefecture: Hirokichi Nishioka
Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama
Saga Prefecture: Gen'ichi Okimori
Saitama Prefecture:
- until 28 March: Mizo Nishimura
- 28 March-17 May: Yoshida Tadakazu
- starting 17 May: Yuuichi Oosawa
Shiga Prefecture: Iwakichi Hattori
Shiname Prefecture: Fujiro Hara
Shizuoka Prefecture: Takeji Kobayashi
Tochigi Prefecture: Juukichi Kodaira
Tokushima Prefecture: Goro Abe
Tokyo Prefecture: Seiichirō Yasui
Tottori Prefecture: Aiji Nishio
Toyama Prefecture: Kunitake Takatsuji
Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
Yamagata Prefecture: Michio Murayama
Yamaguchi Prefecture: Tatsuo Tanaka
Yamanashi Prefecture: Katsuyasu Yoshie

Events

January 23 - 1949 Japanese general election ^[2]
January 26 – A fire breaks out at Hōryū-ji temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, destroying several murals.^[3]
March Unknown date – Mens Shop Ogori, as predecessor of Uniqlo was founded in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture.^{[ citation needed ]}
May 16: Opening of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya Stock Exchanges.
May 25: Ministry of International Trade and Industry formed.
June 1: Japanese National Railways become independent of the Ministry of Transportation.
June 22: A Typhoon Della, torrential massibie rain and landslide hit, many ship and fishing boat plunged around Uwa Sea, Ehime Prefecture, 468 person were human fatalities, including a passenger ferry Aoba Maru, and 367 persons were hurt, according to Japanese government official confirmed report.^{[ citation needed ]}
July 5 - Shimoyama incident
July 15 - Mitaka incident
August 17 - Matsukawa derailment
September 15: First limited express trains begin operation on JNR lines.
October: Hideki Yukawa becomes the first Japanese winner of a Nobel Prize.
December 1
- Izumi Real Estate, later, Sumitomo Realty & Development was founded.^{[ page needed ]}
- Marubeni was established that separate from Itochu.^{[ citation needed ]}
December 16 – Auto parts company Denso established.^[4]

Films

Late Spring

Births

Haruki Murakami HarukiMurakami.png — Haruki Murakami

January 12: Haruki Murakami, author
January 15: Rumi Tama, film director, actress, and screenwriter
January 24: Rihoko Yoshida, voice actress
January 28: Masachika Ichimura, voice actor and musical singer
February 2: Yasuko Namba, mountaineer, summited the Seven Summits (d. 1996)
March 3: Hiroshi Kajikawa, archer
March 23: Aruno Tahara, voice actor
April 26
- Morio Kazama, actor
- Issei Sagawa, murderer
May 9: Kenji Shimaoka, volleyball player
May 11: Terumi Niki, actress
May 12: Moto Hagio, manga artist
May 25: Yuki Katsuragi, singer (d. 2022)
June 5: Guts Ishimatsu, boxer
June 20: Arase Nagahide, sumo wrestler (d. 2008)
June 27: Norio Nagayama, spree killer (d. 1997)
July 14: Toyokazu Nomura, judoka
August 18: Takeshi Shudo, scriptwriter (d. 2010)
September 14: Eikichi Yazawa, singer
September 19: Sayoko Yamaguchi, model and actress (d. 2007)
September 20: Yutaka Higuchi, figure skater
September 21: Yūsaku Matsuda, actor (d. 1989)
October 5: Takajin Yashiki, singer and television celebrity (d. 2014)
October 7: Yuji Katsuro, Nordic combined skier
October 21: Masao Ohba, boxer (d. 1973)
November 17: Yoshito Yasuhara, actor and voice actor
November 21: Kazumasa Hirai, weightlifter
November 24: Tamanofuji Shigeru, sumo wrestler (d. 2021)
November 28: Kyoko Mizuki, author and manga artist
December 2: Shūichi Ikeda, voice actor
December 16: Kensaku Morita, actor, singer and governor of Chiba Prefecture
December 20: Takao Okawara, film director, writer and producer
December 28: Kaoru Kitamura, writer

Deaths

January 8: Yoshijirō Umezu, war leader
January 20: Iwata Nakayama, photographer
February 6: Hiroaki Abe, admiral
May 5: Hideo Nagata, poet and playwright
May 6: Kunihiko Hashimoto, composer, violinist, conductor, and musical educator
May 17: Unno Juza, founding father of Japanese science fiction
June 30: Harukazu Nagaoka, diplomat
July 1: Isamu Takeshita, admiral
July 10: Moritake Tanabe
August 7: Uemura Shōen, artist
August 15: Kanji Ishiwara, war leader
October 5: Yoshio Kodaira, rapist and serial killer (executed) (born 1905)^[5]
October 12: Kiyoshi Kawakami, journalist
November 3: Hidemitsu Tanaka, author
November 14: Matsudaira Tsuneo, diplomat
November 20: Wakatsuki Reijirō, former prime minister
November 25: Kazuo Mizutani, chief of staff
December 14: Morita Sōhei, author

Statistics

Yen value: US$1 = ¥360 (fixed)

References

↑ "Hirohito | Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
↑ Pharr, Susan J. (8 January 2021). Political Women in Japan: The Search for a Place in Political Life. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-35664-1.
↑ Jones, Murray (1966). "The Burned Murals of Hōryū-ji. A Transformation of the Gods" . Art Journal. 25 (3): 238–240. doi:10.2307/774980. ISSN 0004-3249. JSTOR 774980.
↑ Hong, Paul; Park, YoungWon (19 December 2014). Building Network Capabilities in Turbulent Competitive Environments: Business Success Stories from the BRICs. CRC Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-4665-1576-5.
↑ "Peace, It's Wonderful". Time. 17 October 1949. Archived from the original on 30 October 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2008.

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[1] "Hirohito | Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.

[2] Pharr, Susan J. (8 January 2021). Political Women in Japan: The Search for a Place in Political Life. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-35664-1.

[3] Jones, Murray (1966). "The Burned Murals of Hōryū-ji. A Transformation of the Gods" . Art Journal. 25 (3): 238–240. doi:10.2307/774980. ISSN 0004-3249. JSTOR 774980.

[4] Hong, Paul; Park, YoungWon (19 December 2014). Building Network Capabilities in Turbulent Competitive Environments: Business Success Stories from the BRICs. CRC Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-4665-1576-5.

[5] "Peace, It's Wonderful". Time. 17 October 1949. Archived from the original on 30 October 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2008.

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