1956 in Japan

Events in the year 1956 in Japan.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime Minister: Ichirō Hatoyama (Liberal Democratic) until December 23, Tanzan Ishibashi (Liberal Democratic)
 * Chief Cabinet Secretary: Ryutaro Nemoto until December 23, Hirohide Ishida
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
 * President of the House of Representatives: Shūji Masutani
 * President of the House of Councillors: Yahachi Kawai until April 3, Tsuruhei Matsuno

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
 * Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
 * Aomori Prefecture: Bunji Tsushima (until 1 June); Iwao Yamazaki (starting 20 July)
 * Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata
 * Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
 * Fukui Prefecture: Seiichi Hane
 * Fukuoka Prefecture: Taichi Uzaki
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Sakuma Ootake
 * Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto
 * Gunma Prefecture: Shigeo Kitano (until 1 August); Toshizo Takekoshi (starting 2 August)
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroo Ōhara
 * Hokkaido: Toshifumi Tanaka
 * Hyogo Prefecture: Masaru Sakamoto
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue
 * Ishikawa Prefecture: Jūjitsu Taya
 * Iwate Prefecture: Senichi Abe
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
 * Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono
 * Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama
 * Kochi Prefecture: Masumi Mizobuchi
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Saburō Sakurai
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
 * Mie Prefecture: Satoru Tanaka
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Otogorō Miyagi (until 4 October); Yasushi Onuma (starting 5 October)
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Jingo Futami
 * Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi
 * Nagasaki Prefecture: Takejirō Nishioka
 * Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
 * Niigata Prefecture: Kazuo Kitamura
 * Oita Prefecture: Kaoru Kinoshita
 * Okayama Prefecture: Yukiharu Miki
 * Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama
 * Saga Prefecture: Naotsugu Nabeshima
 * Saitama Prefecture: Yuuichi Oosawa (until 29 May); Hiroshi Kurihara (starting 16 July)
 * Shiga Prefecture: Kotaro Mori
 * Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu
 * Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Kiichi Ogawa
 * Tokushima Prefecture: Kikutaro Hara
 * Tokyo: Seiichirō Yasui
 * Tottori Prefecture: Shigeru Endo
 * Toyama Prefecture: Kunitake Takatsuji (until 30 September); Minoru Yoshida (starting 1 October)
 * Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Tōkichi Abiko
 * Yamaguchi Prefecture: Taro Ozawa
 * Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

Events

 * January 1 - According to Japanese government officially confirmed report, human stampede hit during newyear festival in Yahiko Shrine, Niigata Prefecture, 124 person were perished, 77 person were hurt.
 * April 10 – Sanwa Shutter was founded in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.
 * May 3 - The first World Judo Championships are held at the Kuramae Kokugikan, Tokyo.
 * July 8 - House of Councillors election held.
 * October 15 – According to Japan Transport Ministry official confirmed report, two trains crush in Rokken rail accident in Mie Prefecture, official death toll was 42 persons, with 94 persons were hurt.
 * October 19 - Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 signed.
 * October 28 – A landmark spot in Osaka, Tsūtenkaku was rebuilt, after it caught fire and was demolished in 1943.
 * December 12 - Japan becomes a member of the United Nations

Births

 * January 1 - Kōji Yakusho, actor
 * January 3 - Tomiko Suzuki, voice actress (d. 2003)
 * January 5 - Chen Kenichi, chef
 * February 5 – Mao Daichi, actress (Takarazuka Revue)
 * February 15 - Miyoko Asada, actress
 * February 16 – Takayoshi Nakao, former professional baseball player
 * February 23 - Goro Noguchi, singer and actor
 * February 26 - Keisuke Kuwata, musician
 * February 27 – Kenji Niinuma, enka singer
 * March 13 – Motoharu Sano, musician and singer-songwriter
 * March 20 - Naoto Takenaka, actor, comedian, singer and director
 * March 24 – Shinsuke Shimada, former television presenter
 * April 8 - Yoshiko Tanaka, actress (d. 2011)
 * April 12 - Yasuo Tanaka, politician and novelist
 * May 28 - Sayuri Yamauchi, voice actress (d. 2012)
 * May 31 - Yoshiko Sakakibara, voice actress
 * June 27 – Takeshi Nishimoto, former professional baseball pitcher
 * July 15 - Toshihiko Seko, long-distance runner
 * July 19 - Yoshiaki Yatsu, professional wrestler
 * August 4 - Mika Doi, voice actress
 * August 25 – Takeshi Okada, association footballer and football coach
 * August 31 - Masashi Tashiro, television performer
 * September 7 – Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, singer-songwriter
 * September 20 - Makiko Kinoshita, composer
 * October 26 – Machiko Watanabe, singer and singer-songwriter
 * December 19 - Masami Akita, noise musician, (aka Merzbow)

Deaths

 * January 4 – Makoto Nishimura, biologist (b. 1883)
 * June 3 – Fukushi Masaichi, physician and pathologist (b. 1878)