1977 in Japan

Events in the year 1977 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 52 (昭和52年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime minister: Takeo Fukuda (Liberal Democratic)
 * Chief Cabinet Secretary: Sunao Sonoda until November 28, Shintaro Abe
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Ekizo Fujibayashi until August 25, Masao Okahara from August 26
 * President of the House of Representatives: Shigeru Hori
 * President of the House of Councillors: Kenzō Kōno until July 3, Ken Yasui from July 28
 * Diet sessions: 80th (regular session opened on December 30, 1976, to June 9), 81st (extraordinary, July 27 to August 3), 82nd (extraordinary, September 29 to November 25), 83rd (extraordinary, December 7 to December 10), 84th (regular, December 19 to June 16, 1978)

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Yoshiaki Nakaya
 * Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
 * Aomori Prefecture: Shunkichi Takeuchi
 * Chiba Prefecture: Kiichi Kawakami
 * Ehime Prefecture: Haruki Shiraishi
 * Fukui Prefecture: Heidayū Nakagawa
 * Fukuoka Prefecture: Hikaru Kamei
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Isao Matsudaira
 * Gifu Prefecture: vacant (until 8 February); Yosuke Uematsu (starting 8 February)
 * Gunma Prefecture: Ichiro Shimizu
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroshi Miyazawa
 * Hokkaido: Naohiro Dōgakinai
 * Hyogo Prefecture: Tokitada Sakai
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Fujio Takeuchi
 * Ishikawa Prefecture: Yōichi Nakanishi
 * Iwate Prefecture: Tadashi Chida
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Tadao Maekawa
 * Kagoshima Prefecture: Saburō Kanemaru (until 3 February); Kaname Kamada (starting 3 March)
 * Kanagawa Prefecture: Kazuji Nagasu
 * Kochi Prefecture: Chikara Nakauchi
 * 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: Takeo Kimi
 * Oita Prefecture: Masaru Taki
 * Okayama Prefecture: Shiro Nagano
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Koichi Taira
 * Osaka Prefecture: Ryōichi Kuroda
 * Saga Prefecture: Sunao Ikeda
 * Saitama Prefecture: Yawara Hata
 * Shiga Prefecture: Masayoshi Takemura
 * Shiname Prefecture: Seiji Tsunematsu
 * Shizuoka Prefecture: Keizaburō Yamamoto
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Yuzuru Funada
 * Tokushima Prefecture: Yasunobu Takeichi
 * Tokyo: Ryōkichi Minobe
 * Tottori Prefecture: Kōzō Hirabayashi
 * Toyama Prefecture: Kokichi Nakada
 * Wakayama Prefecture: Shirō Kariya
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Seiichirō Itagaki
 * Yamaguchi Prefecture: Toru Hirai
 * Yamanashi Prefecture: Kunio Tanabe

Events

 * January to February – According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency, a widely heavy snow and avalanche, affective winter storm hit around nationwide, resulting to official confirmed report, total 101 person were human fatalities and 834 persons were wounded.
 * January 4 - Poisoned cola is placed in a telephone booth near Shinagawa Station, killing two.
 * June 15 - Outbreak of cholera in Arida, Wakayama prefecture.
 * August 7 - Mount Usu erupts.
 * September 9 - Typhoon Babe strikes Okinoerabujima.
 * September 19 - Yutaka Kume is abducted by North Korean agents in Noto Peninsula - beginning of North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens.

Births

 * January 3 - Mayumi Iizuka, voice actress
 * January 22 - Hidetoshi Nakata, footballer
 * January 30 – Takahiro Arai, former professional baseball player
 * February 10 – Morihiro Hashimoto, darts player (d. 2017)
 * March 15 - Norifumi Yamamoto, mixed martial artist
 * April 27 - Dai Fujikura, composer
 * April 29 - Daisuke Amaya, indie game developer
 * May 8 - Chiaki Takahashi, voice actress
 * May 26 - Misaki Ito, actress
 * June 22 - Ryōko Ono, voice actress
 * June 25 - Naoya Tsukahara, gymnast
 * June 26 - Tite Kubo, manga artist, creator of BLEACH
 * August 13 - Miho Konishi, actress
 * August 22 - Miho Kanno, actress and singer
 * August 23 - Kenta Miyake, voice actor
 * August 25 - Masumi Asano, voice actress
 * August 30 - Sayori Ishizuka, voice actress
 * September 6 - Kiyoshi Hikawa, enka singer
 * September 15 - Angela Aki, singer-songwriter
 * September 20 - Namie Amuro, singer
 * September 23 - Nozomi Momoi, Japanese AV idol, and murder victim (d. 2002)
 * September 25 - Atsushi Aoki, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 2019)
 * October 1 – Christel Takigawa, television presenter
 * December 6 - Miwa Yasuda, voice actress

Deaths

 * March 21 - Kinuyo Tanaka, actress (b. 1909)
 * March 31 - Yasuji Kamada, photographer (b. 1883)
 * December 19 - Takeo Kurita, admiral (b. 1889)