1953 in Japan

Events in the year 1953 in Japan.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime minister: Shigeru Yoshida (Liberal Democratic)
 * Chief Cabinet Secretary: Taketora Ogata until March 24, Kenji Fukunaga
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
 * President of the House of Representatives: Banboku Ōno until March 14, Yasujirō Tsutsumi from May 18
 * President of the House of Councillors: Naotake Satō until May 19, Yahachi Kawai

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: Shigeo Kitano
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroo Ōhara
 * Hokkaido: Toshifumi Tanaka
 * Hyogo Prefecture: Masaru Sakamoto
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue
 * Ishikawa Prefecture: Wakio Shibano
 * Iwate Prefecture: Kenkichi Kokubun
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
 * Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono
 * Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama
 * Kochi Prefecture: Wakaji Kawamura
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Saburō Sakurai
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
 * Mie Prefecture: Masaru Aoki
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Otogorō Miyagi
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Nagashige Tanaka
 * 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: Kotaro Mori
 * Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu
 * Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Juukichi Kodaira
 * Tokushima Prefecture: Kuniichi Abe
 * Tokyo: Seiichirō Yasui
 * Tottori Prefecture: Shigeru Endo
 * Toyama Prefecture: Kunitake Takatsuji
 * Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Michio Murayama
 * Yamaguchi Prefecture: Tatsuo Tanaka (until 24 March); Taro Ozawa (starting 30 April)
 * Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

Events

 * date unknown – The Japanese 10 yen coin is issued with serrated edges for a 5-year period, beginning in 1953. All 10 yen coins since have had smooth edges.
 * June–August – Heavy massive rain, landslides, and flooding in western and southwestern Japan kill an estimated 2,566, and injure 9,433, mainly at Kizugawa, Wakayama, Kumamoto, and Kitakyushu.
 * January 4 – NHK Radio broadcasts its first live marathon coverage.
 * June 18 – Tachikawa air disaster - 129 die after a United States Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster II crashes shortly after taking off from Tachikawa Airfield.
 * June 25 – 1953 North Kyushu flood hit in Chikugo River, Kitakyushu and Kumamoto area, 1013 persons were human fatalities, 2775 persons were hurt, according to Japanese government official confirmed report.
 * July 20 – 1953 Kii Peninsula flood, according to Japanese government official confirmed report, 1124 persons were human fatalities, 5819 persons were wounded.
 * August 15 – 1953 South Yamashiro flood, 429 person were human fatalities, with 994 person were hurt, according to Japanese government official confirmed report.
 * September 23 – 1953 Typhoon Tess, 478 person were human fatalities, with 2559 persons were hurt, Japanese government official confirmed report.
 * December 25 – The Amami Islands are returned to Japan from the US military following 8 years of occupation.

Births

 * January 9
 * Shigeru So, former long-distance runner
 * Takeshi So, former long-distance runner
 * January 29 - Yorie Terauchi, actress
 * February 4 - Kitarō, New Age musician
 * February 13 - Kaoru Kurimoto, novelist and writer (d. 2009)
 * February 23 – Satoru Nakajima, racing car driver
 * February 28 - Kōzō Murashita, singer and songwriter (d. 1999)
 * March 2 – Kazuo Kitagawa, politician(Komeito)
 * March 18 - Takashi Yoshimatsu, composer
 * May 1 – Mayumi Aoki, swimmer
 * May 4 – Masashi Ebara, actor and voice actor
 * June 4 - Susumu Ojima, entrepreneur
 * June 6 - June Yamagishi, Japanese guitarist
 * July 12 – Akinobu Mayumi, former professional baseball player and coach
 * July 14 – Katsuya Okada, politician
 * July 19 - Shōichi Nakagawa, politician (d. 2009)
 * July 31 - Tōru Furuya, actor, voice actor and narrator
 * August 4 – Masataka Nashida, former professional baseball player and coach
 * November 28 - Taeko Onuki, singer-songwriter
 * December 6 - Masami Kurumada, manga artist and writer
 * December 9 – Hiromitsu Ochiai, former professional baseball player and coach
 * December 17 - Ikue Mori, drummer, composer, graphic designer
 * December 28 - Tatsumi Fujinami, professional wrestler

Deaths

 * January 4 - Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu
 * February 19 - Nobutake Kondō, admiral
 * May 28 - Tatsuo Hori, writer, poet and translator (b. 1904)
 * July 7 - Tsumasaburō Bandō, actor
 * September 7 - Nobuyuki Abe, politician, military leader, Prime Minister