1954 in Japan

Events in the year 1954 in Japan.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime minister: Shigeru Yoshida (Liberal Democratic) until December 10, Ichirō Hatoyama (Liberal Democratic)
 * Chief Cabinet Secretary: Kenji Fukunaga until December 10, Ryutaro Nemoto
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
 * President of the House of Representatives: Yasujirō Tsutsumi until December 10, Tō Matsunaga from December 11
 * President of the House of Councillors: 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: Aiji Nishio (until 7 November); Juukichi Kodaira (starting 7 November)
 * 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: Taro Ozawa
 * Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

Events

 * January 2 - A stampede occurs in Nijubashi, Imperial Square, Tokyo, with 16 fatalities, according to Japan National Police Agency confirmed report.ja:二重橋事件
 * January 18 – Mabuchi Motor was founded in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture.
 * February 1 – A first issue of Chūnichi Sports was published in Nagoya.
 * April 26 - Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai released in Japan.
 * July 1 - The Japanese Self-Defense Forces are established.
 * September 26
 * A typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait sinks the ferry Tōya Maru, killing over 1,100 passengers and crew, wrecks at least seven other ships and seriously damages nine more.
 * A massive fire in Iwanai, Hokkaido, a result of Typhoon Marie, leaves 38 people dead, 551 people injured according to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report.ja:岩内大火
 * October 8 - A sightseeing boat Uchigo Maru capsized due to overcrowding in Lake Sagami, Kanagawa Prefecture, 22 junior high school students perished, according to Japanese government confirmed report.
 * November 3 - Godzilla released in Japan.

Births

 * January 6 - Yuji Horii, video game designer
 * January 8 - Yasushi Tao, professional baseball player and coach
 * January 9 - Satoshi Kirishima, anarchist and terrorist (d. 2024)
 * January 14 - Masanobu Fuchi, professional wrestler
 * January 19 - Yumi Matsutoya, singer
 * January 28 - Kaneto Shiozawa, voice actor (d. 2000)
 * January 29 - Yukinobu Hoshino, cartoonist
 * February 4 - Shigeru Chiba, Voice actor and actor
 * February 11 - Noriyuki Asakura, composer
 * February 17 - Yuji Takada, free-style wrestler
 * March 2 - Gara Takashima, voice actress
 * March 23 - Hideyuki Hori, voice actor
 * March 26 - Kazuhiko Inoue, voice actor
 * April 2 - Susumu Hirasawa, musician
 * April 17 - Norio Imamura, voice actor
 * April 22 - Jōji Nakata, voice actor
 * April 29 - Kazuko Kurosawa, costume designer
 * May 19 - Hōchū Ōtsuka, voice actor
 * May 22 - Shuji Nakamura, electronics engineer
 * June 2 - Chiyoko Kawashima, voice actress
 * June 4 - Kazuhiro Yamaji, actor and voice actor
 * July 10 - Yō Yoshimura, voice actor (d. 1991)
 * July 2 - Saori Minami, idol and singer
 * August 1 - Junpei Morita, actor and voice actor
 * September 16 - Masahiro Andoh, musician, guitarist of T-Square (band)
 * September 21 - Shinzō Abe, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2022)
 * October 18 - Yūji Mitsuya, voice actor
 * November 8 - Kazuo Ishiguro, author
 * November 20 - Bin Shimada, voice actor

Deaths

 * July 28 - Sōjin Kamiyama, film star during the silent film era (b. 1884)
 * September 21 - Mikimoto Kōkichi, pearl farm pioneer (b. 1858)
 * October 6 - Yukio Ozaki, politician (b. 1859)