1958 in Japan

Events in the year 1958 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 33 (昭和33年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime minister: Nobusuke Kishi
 * Chief Cabinet Secretary: Kiichi Aichi until June 12, Munenori Akagi
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
 * President of the House of Representatives: Shūji Masutani until April 25, Nirō Hoshijima from June 11 until December 13, Ryōgorō Katō
 * President of the House of Councillors: Tsuruhei Matsuno

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
 * Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
 * Aomori Prefecture: Iwao Yamazaki
 * Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata
 * Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
 * Fukui Prefecture: Seiichi Hane
 * Fukuoka Prefecture: Taichi Uzaki
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Zenichiro Satō
 * Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto (until 16 October); Yukiyasu Matsuno (starting 17 October)
 * Gunma Prefecture: Toshizo Takekoshi
 * 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: Yasushi Onuma
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Jingo Futami
 * Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi
 * Nagasaki Prefecture: Takejirō Nishioka (until 14 January); Katsuya Sato (starting 2 March)
 * 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: Hiroshi Kurihara
 * Shiga Prefecture: Kotaro Mori (until 6 December); Kyujiro Taniguchi (starting 7 December)
 * Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu
 * Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Kiichi Ogawa
 * Tokushima Prefecture: Kikutaro Hara
 * Tokyo: Seiichirō Yasui
 * Tottori Prefecture: Shigeru Endo (until 10 November); Jirō Ishiba (starting 3 December)
 * Toyama Prefecture: Minoru Yoshida
 * Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Tōkichi Abiko
 * Yamaguchi Prefecture: Taro Ozawa
 * Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

Events

 * January 26 – According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a passenger ferry Nankai Maru capsized Kii Channel, between Wakayama City to Tokushima City, total 167 persons drowned.
 * March 1 – Two medium-size airlines, FarEastern Airways of Japan and Nippon Helicopter Transport, are merged to become All Nippon Airways (ANA) which begins operation in Japan.
 * March 9 – The Kanmon Tunnel opens, connecting Honshu and Kyushu by road for the first time.
 * April Unknown date – Ohyama Blow Manufacturing, as predecessor of Iris Ohyama was founded.
 * May 2 – Nagasaki Flag incident - Ultra-nationalists pull down a Chinese flag hanging outside an exhibition of postage stamps in Nagasaki, freezing relations between China and Japan.
 * May 22 – General election of 1958 - The Liberal Democratic Party win 298 out of 467 seats.
 * June 24 – According to official Japanese government confirmed report, a large scale eruption in Mount Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture, killed a total of twelve persons, and wounded 28.
 * August 2 – An All Nippon Airways Douglas DC-3 plunges in the sea close to the Izu Islands, killing all 33 occupants of the aircraft.
 * August 25 – Instant noodles go on sale for the first time in Japan.
 * September 27 – Typhoon Ida kills at least 1,269 in Honshu.
 * October 14 – Construction of Tokyo Tower is completed.
 * November 10 – According to Japan Meteorological Agency official confirmed report, a large scale erupted in Mount Asama, Gunma Prefecture, ash height maximum 8,000 meters.
 * December 23 – Tokyo Tower is opened to the public for the first time, at a final cost of ¥2.8 billion ($8.4 million in 1958).
 * December 27 – National Health Care Act of 1958.
 * unknown date - The Japanese 10 yen coin ceases having serrated edges after a 5-year period beginning in 1953. All 10 yen coins since have smooth edges.

Births

 * January 5 – Junko Yagami, singer and songwriter
 * January 20 – Masuo Amada, voice actor
 * January 30 – Sayuri Ishikawa, enka singer
 * February 1 – Ryō Horikawa, voice actor
 * February 4 – Saburō Tokitō, singer and actor
 * February 11 – Shinobu Satouchi, voice actor
 * March 10 – Hiroshi Yanaka, voice actor
 * April 1 – Hiromi Kawakami, author and writer
 * April 7 – Shinobu Adachi, voice actress
 * April 12 – Hyōichi Kōno, adventurer (d. 2001)
 * April 14 – Junko Sakurada, actress and singer
 * April 21 – Yoshito Usui, manga artist, creator of Crayon Shin-chan (d. 2009)
 * May 2 – Yasushi Akimoto, record producer, lyricist and television writer
 * June 14 – Masami Yoshida, javelin thrower (d. 2000)
 * June 20 – Teiyū Ichiryūsai, voice actress
 * July 5 – Kyoko Terase, voice actress
 * July 22 – Tatsunori Hara, professional-baseball coach and player
 * August 2 – Shō Hayami, voice actor and singer
 * August 15 – Chiharu Suzuka, voice actress
 * September 8
 * Mitsuru Miyamoto, voice actor
 * Reiko Terashima, manga artist and illustrator
 * October 15 – Masako Katsuki, voice actress
 * October 23 – Hiroyuki Kinoshita, actor and voice actor
 * October 24 – Hatsuhiko Tsuji, professional baseball m coach and former player
 * November 12 – Hiromi Iwasaki, singer
 * November 27 – Tetsuya Komuro, music producer and songwriter
 * December 2 – Mina Asami, actress
 * December 26 – Mieko Harada, actress

Date unknown

 * Yoshiteru Otani, cartoonist

Deaths

 * April 2 – Jōsei Toda, educator and peace activist (b. 1900)
 * September 20 – Ogasawara Naganari, admiral and naval strategist (b. 1867)