1944 in Japan

Events in the year 1944 in Japan.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime Minister:
 * Hideki Tōjō, until July 22
 * Kuniaki Koiso, from July 22

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Shinji Yoshino
 * Akita Prefecture: Katsumi Osafune (until 7 January); Tadashi Hisayasuhiroshi (starting 1 August)
 * Aomori Prefecture: Utsunomiya Kohei (until 1 August); Hiroo Oshima (starting 1 August)
 * Ehime Prefecture: Aikawa Katsuroku (until 18 April); Chiyoji Kizawa (starting 18 April)
 * Fukui Prefecture: Hatsuo Kato
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Koichi Kameyama (until 18 April); Ishii Masakazu (starting 18 April)
 * Gifu Prefecture: Miyoshi Shigeo (until 28 July); Masami Hashimoto (starting 28 July)
 * Gunma Prefecture: Shinoyama Chiyuki (until 25 February); Ishii Einosuke (starting 25 February)
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Sukenari Yokoyama (until 1 August); Mitsuma Matsumura (starting 1 August)
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Sieve Yoshimi (until 25 August); Hisashi Imai (starting 25 August)
 * Iwate Prefecture: Osamuzo Suzuki
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Yoshiji Kosuga
 * Kochi Prefecture: Saburo Takahashi
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Hikari Akira (until 1 August); Soga Kajimatsu (starting 1 August)
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Chiyoji Yukizawa (until April); Arai Zentaro (starting April)
 * Mie Prefecture: Yoshio Mochinaga
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Nobuya Uchida (until 25 February); Tsurukichi Maruyama (starting 1 August)
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadao Nishihiro (until 1 August); Akira Taniguchi (starting 1 August)
 * Nagano Prefecture: Yoshio Koriyama (until 1 August); Yasuo Otsubo (starting 1 August)
 * Niigata Prefecture: Maeda Tamon
 * Oita Prefecture: Motoharu Nakamura
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Osamu Mori Izumi
 * Saga Prefecture: Yue Yue (civil servant) (until 1 August); Miyazaki Kenta (starting 1 August)
 * Saitama Prefecture: Sudo Tetsushin (until 1 August); Ryuichi Fukumoto (starting 1 August)
 * Shiname Prefecture: Takeo Yamada
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Soma Toshio
 * Tokyo: Nisho Toshizo
 * Toyama Prefecture:
 * until 25 February: Saka Shinya
 * 25 February-25 July: Shoichi Nishimura
 * starting 25 July: Shigero Okamoto
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Akira Saito

Events

 * January 31-February 3 - Battle of Kwajalein
 * February 17–23 - Battle of Eniwetok
 * April 17-May 25 - Battle of Central Henan
 * May–August - Battle of Changsha (1944)
 * June 4-September 7 - Battle of Mount Song
 * June 15-July 9 - Battle of Saipan
 * June 15/16 - Bombing of Yawata (June 1944)
 * June 19–20 - Battle of the Philippine Sea
 * June 22-August 8 - Defense of Hengyang
 * July 10-August 25 - Battle of Driniumor River
 * July 21-August 10 - Battle of Guam (1944)
 * July 24-August 1 - Battle of Tinian
 * August 16-November 24 - Battle of Guilin-Liuzhou
 * September 15-November 27 - Battle of Peleliu
 * September 17-October 22 - Battle of Angaur
 * October 10–20 - Formosa Air Battle
 * December 7 - 1944 Tōnankai earthquake
 * December 30–31 - Battle of Pearl Ridge

Births

 * February 8 - Isao Shibata, former professional baseball player
 * April 5 - Hiroyuki Hosoda, politician (d. 2023)
 * April 16 - Shoji Tabuchi, fiddler
 * July 8 - Hironobu Takesaki, former Chief Justice of Japan
 * July 15 - Ken Kagaya, painter and writer (d. 2003)

Deaths

 * January 25 - Monzo Akiyama, admiral (b. 1891)
 * February 21 - Yoshimi Nishida, general (b. 1892)
 * March 29 - Kiichi Hasegawa, admiral (b. 1894)
 * March 31 - Mineichi Koga, Marshal Admiral (b. 1885)
 * May 24 - Matsuji Ijuin, vice admiral (b. 1893)
 * July 6 - Chūichi Nagumo, admiral (b. 1887)
 * July 8 - Takeo Takagi, admiral (b. 1892)
 * July 10 - Yoshitsugu Saitō, lieutenant general (b. 1890)
 * July 19 - Shigeo Arai, freestyle swimmer (b. 1916)
 * July 28 - Takeshi Takashina, general (b. 1891)
 * August 1 - Kiyochi Ogata, colonel
 * August 2
 * Kakuji Kakuta, captain (b. 1890)
 * Goichi Oya, admiral
 * August 11 - Hideyoshi Obata, general (b. 1890)
 * October 15 - Masafumi Arima, admiral (b. 1895)
 * October 26 - Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, flying ace (b. 1920)
 * November 7 - Hotsumi Ozaki, journalist and soviet spy (b. 1901)
 * November 18 - Tsunesaburō Makiguchi, educator (b. 1871)
 * November 24 - Kunio Nakagawa, general (b. 1898)
 * December 1 - Murakami Namiroku, novelist and fiction writer (b. 1865)