1943 in Japan

Events in the year 1943 in Japan.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime Minister: Hideki Tōjō

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Yukisawa Chiyoji (until 1 July); Shinji Yoshino (starting 1 July)
 * Akita Prefecture: Fumi (until 1 January); Katsumi Osafune (starting 1 July)
 * Aomori Prefecture: Shunsuke Yamada (until 31 March); Utsunomiya Kohei (starting 31 March)
 * Ehime Prefecture: Ryuichi Fukumoto (until 1 July); Aikawa Katsuroku (starting 1 July)
 * Fukui Prefecture: Nagano Wakamatsu (until 16 July); Hatsuo Kato (starting 16 July)
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Yoshio Araki (until 30 June); Koichi Kameyama (starting 1 July)
 * Gifu Prefecture: Miyoshi Shigeo
 * Gunma Prefecture: Goro Murata (until 22 April); Shinoyama Chiyuki (starting 22 April)
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Saiichiro Miyamura (until 1 July); Sukenari Yokoyama (starting 1 July)
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Tsujiyama (until 1 July); Sieve Yoshimi (starting 1 July)
 * Iwate Prefecture: Osamuzo Suzuki
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Yoshiji Kosuga
 * Kochi Prefecture: Naoaki Hattori (until 1 July); Saburo Takahashi (starting 1 July)
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Hikari Akira
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Ando Kyoushirou (until August); Chiyoji Yukizawa (starting August)
 * Mie Prefecture: Yoshiro Nakano (until 1 July); Yoshio Mochinaga (starting 1 July)
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Otomaru Kato (until 1 July); Nobuya Uchida (starting 1 July)
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Osafume Katsumi (until 1 July); Tadao Nishihiro (starting 1 July)
 * Nagano Prefecture: Nagoya Osamu (until 10 January); Yoshio Koriyama (starting 10 January)
 * Niigata Prefecture: Doi Shohei (until 1 February); Maeda Tamon (starting 1 February)
 * Oita Prefecture: Ito Hisamatsu (until 1 May)
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Hajime Hayakawa (until 1 July); Osamu Mori Izumi (starting 1 July)
 * Saga Prefecture: Yue Yue (civil servant)
 * Saitama Prefecture: Toshio Otsu (until 1 July); Sudo Tetsushin (starting 1 July)
 * Shiname Prefecture: Goro Koizumi (until 10 October); Takeo Yamada (starting 10 October)
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Soma Toshio
 * Tokyo: Matsumura Miro (until 1 July); Shigeo Daitachi (starting 1 July)
 * Toyama Prefecture: Kingo Machimura (until 23 April); Saka Shinya (starting 23 April)
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Akira Saito

Events

 * January 14 – February 7 – Operation Ke
 * January 29–30 – Battle of Rennell Island
 * January 29–31 – Battle of Wau
 * March 2–4 – Battle of the Bismarck Sea
 * March 27 – Battle of the Komandorski Islands
 * May 11–30 – Battle of Attu
 * June 28 – July 1 – Battle of Viru Harbor
 * June 30 – July 3 – Battle of Wickham Anchorage
 * July 6 – Battle of Kula Gulf
 * July 10–11 – Battle of Enogai
 * July 12/13 – Battle of Kolombangara
 * July 20 – Battle of Bairoko
 * July 22 – August 4 – Battle of Munda Point
 * August 6–7 – Battle of Vella Gulf
 * August 17–18 – Battle off Horaniu
 * September 10 – 1943 Tottori earthquake
 * October 27 – November 12 – Battle of the Treasury Islands
 * November 7–8 – Battle of Koromokina Lagoon
 * November 18–25 – Battle of Piva Forks
 * November 20–23 – Battle of Tarawa
 * November 20–23 – Battle of Makin

Films

 * Sanshiro Sugata
 * Momotarō no Umiwashi

Births

 * January 7 – Sadako Sasaki, hibakusha (d. 1955)
 * January 15 – Kirin Kiki, actress (d. 2018)
 * January 19 – Haruo Yasuda, golfer
 * February 20 – Antonio Inoki, wrestler
 * February 22 – Otoya Yamaguchi, assassin (d. 1960)
 * April 3 – Hikaru Saeki, Japanese admiral, the first female star officer of the Japan Self-Defense Forces
 * April 5 – Fighting Harada, boxer (real name Masahiko Harada)
 * May 4 – Michiyo Azusa, singer and actress (real name Michiyo Hayashi) (d. 2020)
 * June 20 – Masayuki Uemura, engineer and video game producer (d. 2021)
 * August 17 – Yukio Kasaya, ski jumper
 * September 16 – Tadamasa Goto, Japanese yakuza boss
 * November 20 – Mie Hama, actress
 * December 2 – Kiwako Taichi, actress (d. 1992)
 * December 11 – Mariko Kaga, actress

Deaths

 * June 9- Mie Dong Long,film maker
 * February 4 – Senjūrō Hayashi, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1876)
 * March 19
 * Tsugi Takano, poet (b. 1890)
 * Fujishima Takeji, painter (b. 1867)
 * April 18 – Isoroku Yamamoto, admiral (b. 1884)
 * May 29 – Yasuyo Yamasaki, army officer (b. 1891)
 * June 11 – Heisuke Abe, general (b. 1886)
 * July 6 – Teruo Akiyama, admiral (b. 1891)
 * July 12/13 – Shunji Isaki, admiral (b. 1892)
 * July 18 – Miyake Kaho, novelist, essayist and poet (b. 1868)
 * August 21 – Hirohide Fushimi, lieutenant Commander (b. 1912)
 * August 22 – Tōson Shimazaki, author (b. 1872)
 * September 10 – Takeshi Sakurada, lieutenant general (b. 1891)
 * October 16 – Yanagihara Naruko, lady-in-waiting and concubine (b. 1859)
 * October 17 –Denji Kuroshima, author (b. 1898)
 * November 20 – Keiji Shibazaki, rear admiral (b. 1894)
 * November 26 – Kiyoto Kagawa, admiral (killed in action) (b. 1895)