1973 in Japan

Events in the year 1973 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 48 (昭和48年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime minister: Kakuei Tanaka (Liberal Democratic)
 * Chief Cabinet Secretary: Susumu Nikaido
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kazuto Ishida until May 19, Tomokazu Murakami from May 21
 * President of the House of Representatives: Umekichi Nakamura until May 29, Shigesaburō Maeo
 * President of the House of Councillors: Kenzō Kōno
 * Diet sessions: 71st (extraordinary session opened on December 22, 1972, to September 27), 72nd (regular, December 1 to June 3, 1974)

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
 * Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
 * Aomori Prefecture: Shunkichi Takeuchi
 * Chiba Prefecture: Taketo Tomonō
 * Ehime Prefecture: Haruki Shiraishi
 * Fukui Prefecture: Heidayū Nakagawa
 * Fukuoka Prefecture: Hikaru Kamei
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Morie Kimura
 * Gifu Prefecture: Saburō Hirano
 * Gunma Prefecture: Konroku Kanda
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Iduo Nagano (until 10 November); Hiroshi Miyazawa (starting 16 December)
 * Hokkaido: Naohiro Dōgakinai
 * Hyogo Prefecture: Tokitada Sakai
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Nirō Iwakami
 * Ishikawa Prefecture: Yōichi Nakanishi
 * Iwate Prefecture: Tadashi Chida
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
 * Kagoshima Prefecture: Saburō Kanemaru
 * Kanagawa Prefecture: Bunwa Tsuda
 * Kochi Prefecture: Masumi Mizobuchi
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Issei Sawada
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
 * Mie Prefecture: Ryōzō Tagawa
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Sōichirō Yamamoto
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Hiroshi Kuroki
 * Nagano Prefecture: Gon'ichirō Nishizawa
 * Nagasaki Prefecture: Kan'ichi Kubo
 * Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
 * Niigata Prefecture: Shiro Watari
 * Oita Prefecture: Masaru Taki
 * Okayama Prefecture: Shiro Nagano
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Chōbyō Yara
 * Osaka Prefecture: Ryōichi Kuroda
 * Saga Prefecture: Sunao Ikeda
 * Saitama Prefecture: Yawara Hata
 * Shiga Prefecture: Kinichiro Nozaki
 * Shiname Prefecture: Seiji Tsunematsu
 * Shizuoka Prefecture: Yūtarō Takeyama
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Nobuo Yokokawa
 * Tokushima Prefecture: Yasunobu Takeichi
 * Tokyo: Ryōkichi Minobe
 * Tottori Prefecture: Jirō Ishiba (until 22 February); Kōzō Hirabayashi (starting 27 March)
 * Toyama Prefecture: Kokichi Nakada
 * Wakayama Prefecture: Masao Ohashi
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Tōkichi Abiko (until 27 September); Seiichirō Itagaki (starting 17 October)
 * Yamaguchi Prefecture: Masayuki Hashimoto
 * Yamanashi Prefecture: Kunio Tanabe

Events

 * January 1 – Health care for those over 70 years of age is made free of charge
 * March 8 – According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, Yawata General Hospital fire in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, total 13 patients were fatalities.
 * March 19 – Konami is established.
 * July 23 – Nidec was founded, as predecessor name was Nippon Densan (Electric Industry) Corporation.
 * August 17 – Miyama Real Estate, as predecessor of Leopalace founded in Nakano, Tokyo.
 * September 25 – According to Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, a caught fire at under construction for department store in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, kill six construction workers, in an incident caused bx a security guardman has arson acting.
 * October 27 – A retailer CGC Group founded.
 * November 29 – Fire breaks out in Taiyo department store in Kumamoto City, killing over a hundred.

Births

 * January 2 – Michiyo Nakajima, actress, voice actress and former pop singer.
 * January 11 – Eri Fukatsu, actress
 * January 16 – Maki Miyamae, pop singer
 * January 18 – Shinobu Nakayama, singer and former pop singer
 * January 31 – Shingo Katayama, golfer
 * February 1 – Makiko Ohmoto, voice actress
 * February 7 – Mie Sonozaki, voice actress
 * February 9 – Yoshitomo Tani, former professional baseball player
 * February 11 – Haruhi Terada, voice actress
 * February 28 – Masato Tanaka, professional wrestler
 * March 6 – Rumi Ochiai, voice actress
 * March 7 – Eiji Takemoto, voice actor
 * March 24 – Sakura Tange, voice actress and singer
 * March 27 – Sayaka Aoki, comedian
 * April 6 – Rie Miyazawa, actress and singer
 * April 21 – Katsuyuki Konishi, voice actor
 * May 8 – Hiromu Arakawa, manga artist
 * May 16 – Kōsuke Toriumi, voice actor
 * May 18 – Kaz Hayashi, professional wrestler
 * May 29 – Tomoko Kaneda,  voice actress and J-pop singer
 * June 12 – Mitsuki Saiga, voice actress
 * June 18 – Yumi Kakazu, voice actress
 * June 19 – Yuko Nakazawa, singer
 * June 30 – Hidetada Yamagishi, bodybuilder
 * July 2 – Makoto Kosaka, former professional baseball player
 * July 4 – Gackt, singer-songwriter and actor
 * July 7 – Natsuki Takaya, manga artist
 * July 16 – Yoshihiko Hakamada, actor
 * July 17
 * Takeshi Kaneshiro, Taiwanese/Japanese actor
 * Daimaou Kosaka, comedian
 * August 13 – Ryōko Shinohara, actress
 * August 31 – Kaori Mizumori, enka singer
 * September 1 – Rieko Miura, actress and singer
 * September 9 – Kazuhisa Ishii, baseball player
 * September 18 – Ami Onuki, singer
 * October 11 – Daisuke Sakaguchi, voice actor
 * October 13 – Nanako Matsushima, actress and model
 * October 14 – Masato Sakai, actor
 * October 20 – Tomoka Shibasaki, writer
 * October 22 – Ichiro Suzuki, baseball player
 * October 26 – Taka Michinoku, professional wrestler
 * November 6 – Rumi Shishido, voice actress and singer
 * December 11 – Yūko Obuchi, politician and cabinet minister
 * December 19 – Takashi Sorimachi, actor and singer
 * December 25 – Daisuke Miura, professional baseball coach and former pitcher

Deaths

 * April 25 – Tanzan Ishibashi, journalist and politician  (b. 1884)
 * May 2 – Akiko Seki, soprano (b. 1899)
 * September 15 – Saburō Matsukata, journalist, businessman and mountaineer (b. 1899)
 * September 18 – Ken Harada, first Japanese diplomat to the Holy See (b. 1893)
 * October 7 – Masayuki Mori, actor (b. 1911)
 * November 7 – Kiyohide Shima, admiral (b. 1890)
 * November 23 – Sesue Hayakawa, actor (b. 1886)