1930 in Japan

Events in the year 1930 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 5 (昭和5年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime Minister: Osachi Hamaguchi

Events

 * January 1 – The Ministry of Rail adopts the metric system for all of Japan's railways.
 * February 4 – Prince Takamatsu marries Kikuko Tokugawa.
 * February 20 – 1930 Japanese general election: The Rikken Minseitō party, led by Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi, won an overall majority in the House of Representatives. Voter turnout was 83.34%.
 * May 5 – Iwatani Industry has founded in Osaka. (As predecessor name was Iwatani Naoji Shoten)
 * May 24–27 – 1930 Far Eastern Games held in Tokyo.
 * October 27–December – Wushe Incident
 * November 14 – Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi is shot inside Tokyo Station by Tomeo Sagoya in a failed assassination attempt. The wounds kept Hamaguchi hospitalized for several months.
 * November 18 – the Buddhist religious movement Soka Gakkai is formed by educator Tsunesaburō Makiguchi.
 * December 21 – The First Gōdō Bank and Sanyō Bank were merged, that became name for Okayama Chūgoku Bank.
 * Unknown date
 * According to All Japan Pachinko Association confirmed report, first standards pachinko parlor open in Nagoya.
 * NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories was founded

Births

 * January 4 – Minoru Makihara, businessman and CEO of Mitsubishi Corporation (d. 2020)
 * January 15 – Michiyo Aratama, actress (d. 2001)
 * January 16 – Shōmei Tōmatsu, photographer (d. 2012)
 * January 18 – Shōgorō Nishimura, film director (d. 2017)
 * January 20 – Sadateru Arikawa, aikido teacher (d. 2003)
 * January 29 – Norio Ohga, businessman and CEO of Sony (d. 2011)
 * April 23 – Shun Akiyama, literary critic (d. 2013)
 * April 24 – Yumi Katsura, wedding fashion designer (d. 2024)
 * April 29 – Kyōko Kishida, actress (d. 2006)
 * May 20 – Yasushi Nagao, Pulitzer Prize-winning press photographer (d. 2009)
 * June 3 – Ben Wada, television director (d. 2011)
 * June 15 – Ikuo Hirayama, painter (d. 2009)
 * June 29 – Sachiko Hidari, actress (d. 2001)
 * July 3 – Kinji Fukasaku, film director (d. 2003)
 * August 1 – Satoru Kobayashi, film director (d. 2001)
 * September 12 – Akira Suzuki, chemist
 * October 8 – Tōru Takemitsu, composer (d. 1996)
 * October 10 – Akiyuki Nosaka, novelist, singer and politician (d. 2015)
 * October 12 – Keiichi Komura, boxer (d. 2023)
 * November 10 – Michiya Mihashi, enka singer (d. 1996)
 * November 11 – Minako Oba, enka author and social critic (d. 2007)
 * December 10 – Yukio Koshimori, politician (d. 2005)
 * December 17 – Makoto Moroi, composer (d. 2013)
 * December 30 – Takeshi Kaikō, author (d. 1989)

Deaths

 * January 27 – Dewa Shigetō, admiral (b. 1856)
 * March 2 – Katsusaburō Yamagiwa, pathologist and physician (b. 1863)
 * March 10 - Misuzu Kaneko, poet (b. 1903)
 * March 28 – Uchimura Kanzō, author and pacifist (b. 1861)
 * May 10 – Kanzan Shimomura, nihonga painter (b. 1873)
 * May 13 – Katai Tayama, novelist (b. 1872)
 * June 30 – Yashiro Rokurō, admiral (1860)
 * July 19 – Oku Yasukata, Field Marshall (b. 1847)
 * October 30 – Sakichi Toyoda, inventor and industrialist (b. 1867)
 * November 4 – Akiyama Yoshifuru, general (b. 1859)
 * November 9 – Asano Sōichirō, businessman (b. 1848)
 * November 16 – Den Kenjirō, politician and Governor-General of Taiwan (b. 1855)