1952 in Japan

Events in the year 1952 in Japan.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime Minister: Shigeru Yoshida
 * Chief Cabinet Secretary:
 * Shigeru Hori (until October 30)
 * Taketora Ogata (starting October 30)
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
 * Speaker of the House of Representatives:
 * Jōji Hayashi (until August 1)
 * Banboku Ōno (August 26 – August 28 and starting October 24)
 * President of the House of Councillors: Naotake Satō

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
 * Akita Prefecture: Tokuji Ikeda
 * Aomori Prefecture: Bunji Tsushima
 * Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata
 * Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
 * Fukui Prefecture: Harukazu Obata
 * Fukuoka Prefecture: Katsuji Sugimoto
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Sakuma Ootake
 * Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto
 * Gunma Prefecture: Yoshio Iyoku (until 4 July); Shigeo Kitano (starting 5 August)
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroo Ōhara
 * Hokkaido Prefecture: Toshifumi Tanaka
 * Hyogo Prefecture: Yukio Kishida
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue
 * Ishikawa Prefecture: Wakio Shibano
 * Iwate Prefecture: Kenkichi Kokubun
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
 * 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: Kazuji Sasaki (until 4 October); Otogorō Miyagi (starting 5 October)
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadao Annaka
 * Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi
 * Nagasaki Prefecture: Takejirō Nishioka
 * Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
 * Niigata Prefecture: Shohei Okada
 * Oita Prefecture: Tokuju Hosoda
 * Okayama Prefecture: Yukiharu Miki
 * Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama
 * Saga Prefecture: Naotsugu Nabeshima
 * Saitama Prefecture: Yuuichi Oosawa
 * Shiga Prefecture: Iwakichi Hattori
 * Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu
 * Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Goro Abe
 * Tokushima Prefecture: Kuniichi 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: Hisashi Amano

Events

 * March 4 – A Richer Scale magnitude 8.1 earthquake with tsunami hit off coast Tokachi region, Hokkaido, according to Japanese government official report, 33 persons were fatalities with 287 persons wounded.
 * March 6 – The Musashino Bank (武蔵野銀行) was established in Saitama Prefecture.
 * March 7 – A Richer Scale magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit off coast Ishikawa Prefecture, seven persons died, eight persons were hurt, according to Japanese government official report.
 * April 10 – According to Japan Transport Ministry official confirmed report, Japan Airlines Flight 301 crash into Izu Ōshima, all 37 passengers and crew were killed.
 * April 17 – According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, a massive fire in Tottori City, resulting to 160 hectares (395 acres), total 7,240 houses and building damage, kills two persons.
 * April 28 - Treaty of San Francisco and 1952 U.S.-Japan security treaty goes into effect, ending the Allied occupation of Japan by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.
 * July 18 – A Richer Scale magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit in Takatori, Nara Prefecture, nine persons were fatalities, with 139 persons hurt, according to Japanese government official report.
 * September 23 – According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a Kaiyō-maru five entrained by the eruption into Myōjin-shō, all 31 crew were human fatalities.
 * October 1 - 1952 Japanese general election

Films

 * The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice

Births

 * January 2 - Makoto Nakajima, bureaucrat, Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office
 * January 17 - Ryuichi Sakamoto, musician, composer, producer and actor (Yellow Magic Orchestra) (d. 2023)
 * January 28 - Tomokazu Miura, actor
 * February 2 - Ryuji Mizuno, voice actor (d. 2022)
 * February 3 - Miyako Yamaguchi
 * February 8 - Daisuke Gōri, voice actor (d. 2010)
 * February 19 – Ryū Murakami, novelist, short story writer, essayist and filmmaker
 * February 23 – Miyuki Nakajima, singer
 * March 30 – Kazuyo Saeki, manga artist (d. 2021)
 * April 10 – Masashi Sada, singer, lyricist, composer, novelist, actor, and a film producer
 * May 2 – Mari Natsuki, singer, dancer and actress
 * May 18 - Ryūzaburō Ōtomo, voice actor
 * June 9 - Yukihiro Takahashi, musician and singer (Yellow Magic Orchestra) (d. 2023)
 * June 20 - Kōichi Mashimo, anime director
 * July 10 – Yōko Asagami, voice actress
 * July 14 – Yutaka Mizutani, actor and singer
 * July 15 - Yuriko Koike, politician, cabinet minister and governor of Tokyo.
 * July 20 - Keiko Matsuzaka, actress
 * July 2 – Rumiko Koyanagi, actress and singer
 * November 16 - Shigeru Miyamoto, game designer
 * December 6 - Shio Satō, Manga artist (d. 2010)
 * Shinichi Nishimiya, diplomat, designated Ambassador to China in 2012.

Deaths

 * April 21 - Isamu Yokoyama
 * August 22 - Hiranuma Kiichirō
 * October 7 - Keisuke Okada