1949 in Japan

Events in the year 1949 in Japan.

Incumbents

 * Supreme Commander Allied Powers: Douglas MacArthur
 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * 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
 * January 26 – A fire breaks out at Hōryū-ji temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, destroying several murals.
 * March Unknown date – Mens Shop Ogori, as predecessor of Uniqlo was founded in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Marubeni was established that separate from Itochu.
 * December 16 – Auto parts company Denso established.

Films
Late Spring

Births



 * 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 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)
 * 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)