1978 in Japan

Events in the year 1978 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 53 (昭和53年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime minister: Takeo Fukuda (Liberal Democratic) until December 7, Masayoshi Ōhira (Liberal Democratic)
 * Chief Cabinet Secretary: Shintaro Abe until December 7, Rokusuke Tanaka
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Masao Okahara
 * President of the House of Representatives: Shigeru Hori
 * President of the House of Councillors: Ken Yasui
 * Diet sessions: 84th (regular session opened in December 19, 1977, to June 16), 85th (extraordinary, September 18 to October 21), 86th (extraordinary, December 6 to December 12), 87th (regular, December 22 to June 14, 1979)

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: Yosuke Uematsu
 * 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: Kaname Kamada
 * Kanagawa Prefecture: Kazuji Nagasu
 * Kochi Prefecture: Chikara Nakauchi
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Issei Sawada
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa (until 15 April); Yukio Hayashida (starting 15 April)
 * 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:
 * until 23 November: Koichi Taira
 * 23 November-13 December: Takemori Nijima
 * starting 13 December: Junji Nishime
 * 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 14 - According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency confirmed report, total of 25 people were dead, 211 people were wounded, a Richer Scale 6.7 earthquake and aftershocks damaged in Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture.
 * March 26 - Protesters destroy much of equipment in the control tower of Narita Airport with Molotov cocktails, set to open in just four days.
 * April 6 – Sunshine 60 has officially open in Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, the tallest sky craper in Asia (Japan), until 63 Building in Seoul, South Korea on July 27, 1985.
 * May 20, 1978 - Narita International Airport opened
 * June 12 - A large 7.7 magnitude earthquake hits offshore Miyagi Prefecture and causes 28 deaths and 1,325 injuries.
 * July 30, 1978 - Okinawa Prefecture changed driving on the Right-hand traffic to Left-hand traffic(730)
 * August 12 - The Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China is concluded.
 * December 16 - The Mystery of Mamo is released in cinemas.

January–June

 * January 2 – Toyoguchi Megumi, voice actress
 * January 6 –
 * Reina Miyauchi, J-pop singer
 * Ayano Tsuji, J-pop singer
 * January 7 – Asami Imajuku, model, actress, and singer
 * January 9 – Hassei Takano, actor
 * January 10 – Kanako Mitsuhashi, voice actress
 * January 11 – Kyoko Hamaguchi, freestyle wrestler
 * January 15 – Vanilla Yamazaki, katsudō-benshi, voice actor, an actress
 * January 16 – Hisanori Ōiwa, actor, stunt performer and suit actor
 * January 17
 * Takatoshi Kaneko, actor
 * Hiro Suzuhira, manga artist
 * January 24 – Tomokazu Myojin, football midfielder
 * January 26 – Atsuko Kurusu, actress
 * January 27 – Akiko Hinagata, actress and former gravure idol.
 * February 4 – Shingo Kawaguchi, actor
 * February 20 – Ken Takeuchi, voice actor
 * February 21 – Miki Sakai, actress and J-pop idol singer
 * February 23 – Yuka Motohashi, actress
 * February 25
 * Yuji Nakazawa, football player
 * Shintarō Tokita, musician
 * February 28 – Rei Kikukawa, actress, model, and television presenter
 * March 1
 * Noriyasu Agematsu, composer
 * Sakura Nogawa, voice actress
 * March 8 – Genki Sudo, mixed martial artist and a kickboxer
 * March 9 – Ryosuke Sawai, baseball player
 * March 12 – Arina Tanemura, manga artist
 * March 15 – Takeru Kobayashi, competitive eater
 * March 18
 * Shimotori Norio, sumo wrestler
 * Yoshie Takeshita, volleyball player
 * March 20 – Hanako Oku, singer
 * March 24
 * Takeharu Kato, baseball player
 * Kaori Mochida, singer
 * March 29 – Hirotoki Onozawa, rugby union player
 * April 5 – Yumie Funayama, curler
 * April 8 – Daigo, e singer-songwriter, actor, talent, and voice actor
 * April 9
 * Kousei Amano, actor
 * Takashi Ōhara, voice actor
 * April 14 – Kaori Muraji, classical guitarist
 * April 18 – Ryōta Tsuzuki, football player
 * April 24 – Kazunari Okayama, football player
 * April 26
 * Hiroshi Asai, musician and composer
 * Shinnosuke Tachibana, voice actor
 * April 27 – Takahiro Suzuki, baseball player
 * May 1 – Sachie Hara, actress and model
 * May 3 – Dai Tamesue, hurdler athlete
 * May 4 – Daisuke Ono, voice actor
 * May 8 – Atsushi Sato, long-distance runner
 * May 10 – Daisuke Yamai, basketball pitcher
 * May 11 – Ushiomaru Motoyasu, sumo wrestler (d. 2019)
 * October 2 – Ayumi Hamasaki, singer, songwriter, actress and model
 * May 12 – Masahiro Abe, baseball player
 * May 13 – Junji Majima, voice actor
 * May 15
 * Kōsei Inoue, Judoka
 * Hideki Sahara, football player
 * May 17 – Norihiro Yamagishi, football player
 * May 18 – Toru Yano, wrestler
 * May 23 – Hideaki Kitajima, football player
 * June 1 – Ayako Ikeda, singer-songwriter
 * June 2 – Junko Yaginuma, announcer and model
 * June 5
 * Yuka Inokuchi, voice actress
 * Takayuki Kondō, voice actor
 * Taro Suruga, musician
 * June 12 – Yumiko Shaku, actress and model
 * June 13 – Mikako Ichikawa, actress and model
 * June 17 – Kumiko Asō, actress
 * June 24 – Shunsuke Nakamura, football player
 * June 25 – Miki Nakao, backstroke swimmer

July –December

 * July 3 – Mizuki Noguchi, long-distance runner
 * July 4 – Yusuke Murata manga artist
 * July 7
 * Kayo Kitada, judoka
 * Misia, singer, songwriter, and record producer
 * July 9 – Osamu Hamanaka, baseball player
 * July 10 – Kotaro Koizumi, actor
 * July 12 – Yoshihito Ishii, baseball player
 * July 19 – Atsushi Harada, actor
 * July 21 – Kyoko Iwasaki, swimmer
 * July 22 – Kyōko Hasegawa, actress and model
 * July 23 – Takashi Yamamoto, swimmer
 * July 24 – Sayo Aizawa, model
 * July 28 – Hitomi Yaida, pop/folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * August 4 – Satoshi Hino, voice actor
 * August 8
 * Natsuko Kuwatani, voice actress
 * Miho Shiraishi, actress
 * August 12
 * Toru Kurihara, rugby union player
 * Kakizoe Tōru, sumo wrestler
 * August 24 – Kentaro Sekimoto, baseball player
 * September 6
 * Homare Sawa, football player
 * Keigo Yamashita, Go player
 * September 18 – Kaoru Mori, manga artist
 * October 2 – Ayumi Hamasaki, recording artist, actress, model, and entrepreneur
 * October 18
 * Kotomi Kyono, actress
 * Minoru Shiraishi, voice actor
 * October 20 – Nora Hirano, comedian
 * October 21 – Mariko Ooe, newsroom announcer
 * October 25 – Maria Takagi, actress
 * October 25 – An Yong-hak, North Korean, football manager
 * October 27 – Manami Konishi, rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actress
 * October 31 – Mika Sugisaki, announcer, radio personality, entertainer, and actress
 * November 3 – Koshiro Take, jockey
 * November 4 – Akiko Abe, announcer and actress
 * November 7 – Tomoya Nagase, singer and actor
 * November 8 – Kensaku Kishida, actor
 * November 10 – Akemi Kanda, voice actress
 * November 25
 * Ayumi Ogasawara, curler
 * Ringo Sheena, singer, songwriter and musician
 * November 26 – Fukuyama Jun voice actor
 * November 28 – Tomohiro Nagatsuka cyclist
 * December 5 – Michinao Yamamura, baseball player
 * December 7 – Yasue Sato, actress and model
 * December 9 – Chihiro Kusaka, voice actress
 * December 12 – Hiroki Konno, comedian
 * December 23 – Akiko Yada, actress
 * December 25 – Miyuki Takahashi, volleyball player
 * December 26 – Kaoru Sugayama, volleyball player
 * December 29 – Noriko Aoyama, actress and former model

Deaths

 * January 5 – Shōji Hamada, potter (b. 1894)
 * February 7 – Keizō Komura, admiral (b. 1896)
 * March 1 – Kiyoshi Oka, mathematician (b. 1901)
 * March 5 – Toshiko Higashikuni, daughter of Emperor Meiji (b. 1896)
 * April 29 – Yukihiko Yasuda, painter (b. 1884)
 * May 15 – Kiku Amino, author and translator (b. 1900)
 * May 30 – Tetsu Katayama, politician and 33rd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1887)
 * June 6 – Katué Kitasono, poet and photographer (b. 1902)
 * July 10 – Takashi Suzuki, politician (b. 1882)
 * July 25 – Masao Koga, composer (b. 1904)
 * August 1 – Kōgorō Uemura, businessman (b. 1892)
 * September 9 – Kaoru Abe, saxophonist (b. 1949)