1987 in Japan

Events in the year 1987 in Japan.

1987 was the second year of the Japanese asset price bubble: land values in Tokyo rose more than 85 percent between July 1986 and July 1987.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Hirohito
 * Prime Minister: Yasuhiro Nakasone (L–Gunma) until November 6, Noboru Takeshita (L–Shimane)
 * Chief Cabinet Secretary: Masaharu Gotōda (L–Tokushima) until November 6, Keizō Obuchi (L–Gunma)
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōichi Yaguchi
 * President of the House of Representatives: Kenzaburō Hara (L–Hyōgo)
 * President of the House of Councillors: Masaaki Fujita (L–Hiroshima)
 * Diet sessions: 108th (regular session opened in December 1986, to May 27), 109th (extraordinary, July 6 to September 19), 110th (extraordinary, November 6 to November 11), 111th (extraordinary, November 27 to December 12), 112th (regular, December 28 to 1988, May 25)

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Reiji Suzuki
 * Akita Prefecture: Kikuji Sasaki
 * Aomori Prefecture: Masaya Kitamura
 * Chiba Prefecture: Takeshi Numata
 * Ehime Prefecture: Haruki Shiraishi (until 27 January); Sadayuki Iga (starting 28 January)
 * Fukui Prefecture: Heidayū Nakagawa (until 23 April); Yukio Kurita (starting 23 April)
 * Fukuoka Prefecture: Hachiji Okuda
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Isao Matsudaira
 * Gifu Prefecture: Yosuke Uematsu
 * Gunma Prefecture: Ichiro Shimizu
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Toranosuke Takeshita
 * Hokkaido: Takahiro Yokomichi
 * Hyogo Prefecture: Toshitami Kaihara
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Fujio Takeuchi
 * Ishikawa Prefecture: Yōichi Nakanishi
 * Iwate Prefecture:
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Jōichi Hirai
 * Kagoshima Prefecture: Kaname Kamada
 * Kanagawa Prefecture: Kazuji Nagasu
 * Kochi Prefecture: Chikara Nakauchi
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Morihiro Hosokawa
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Teiichi Aramaki
 * Mie Prefecture: Ryōzō Tagawa
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Sōichirō Yamamoto
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Suketaka Matsukata
 * Nagano Prefecture: Gorō Yoshimura
 * Nagasaki Prefecture: Isamu Takada
 * Nara Prefecture: Shigekiyo Ueda
 * Niigata Prefecture: Takeo Kimi
 * Oita Prefecture: Morihiko Hiramatsu
 * Okayama Prefecture: Shiro Nagano
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Junji Nishime
 * Osaka Prefecture: Sakae Kishi
 * Saga Prefecture: Kumao Katsuki
 * Saitama Prefecture: Yawara Hata
 * Shiga Prefecture: Minoru Inaba
 * Shiname Prefecture: Seiji Tsunematsu (until 29 April); Nobuyoshi Sumita (starting 30 April)
 * Shizuoka Prefecture: Shigeyoshi Saitō
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Fumio Watanabe
 * Tokushima Prefecture: Shinzo Miki
 * Tokyo: Shun'ichi Suzuki
 * Tottori Prefecture: Yuji Nishio
 * Toyama Prefecture: Yutaka Nakaoki
 * Wakayama Prefecture: Shirō Kariya
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Seiichirō Itagaki
 * Yamaguchi Prefecture: Toru Hirai
 * Yamanashi Prefecture: Kōmei Mochizuki

Events

 * January 27: Construction began on Kansai International Airport.
 * February 9: First public float of NTT.
 * March 17: Asahi beer starts selling Asahi Super Dry.
 * April 1: Japanese National Railways is privatized and becomes the seven Japan Railways Group companies.
 * April 4: The Ariake Coliseum in Koto Ward, Tokyo, is completed.
 * June 1: Asahi TV starts broadcasting the popular short factual television programme See the World by Train (世界の車窓から)
 * June 6: A Shojuen elderly nursing home fire in Higashimurayama, Tokyo. according to Japanese Fire and Disaster Management agency confirmed report, 17 person lost to lives.
 * July 12: Metal Gear is released by Konami.
 * July 23: 1987 Tokyo Metropolitan area power outage, where 2.8 million household affected, which restore spent more three and half hours, according to Japanese government confirmed report.
 * October 1: Nippon Gakki Company Ltd. (Japan Musical Instrument Manufacturing Corporation) is renamed to Yamaha Corporation and Konishiroku Honten is renamed to Konica (Konica Minolta).
 * October 12: Susumu Tonegawa wins the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
 * November 6: Noboru Takeshita becomes prime minister.
 * December 15: Production I.G is founded by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and Takayuki Goto.
 * December 17: Mega Man is released.

During 1987:
 * NTT began the first mobile phone service in Japan.
 * Shoko Asahara founded Aum Shinrikyo.
 * Teikyo University of Technology and Science founded in Chiba City, as predecessor of Teikyo Heisei University.

Births

 * January 3: Nana Yanagisawa, actress and fashion model
 * January 8: Saori Gotō, voice actress
 * January 23: Yuto Nakamura, football player
 * February 12: Asami Tano, Japanese voice actress
 * February 15: Azumi Yamamoto, voice actress
 * March 12: Hiroomi Tosaka, Singer
 * March 15: Momoko Shibuya, actress
 * March 24: Yuma Asami, adult video actress
 * March 25: Nobunari Oda, figure skater
 * March 26: YUI, singer-songwriter
 * April 17: Nami Sano, manga artist (died 2023)
 * April 27: Anne Suzuki, actress
 * May 2
 * Miyu Uehara, gravure idol and television personality (died 2011)
 * Nana Kitade, singer
 * May 7: Asami Konno, J-pop singer
 * May 20: Taku Takeuchi, ski jumper
 * May 22
 * Takuya Eguchi, voice actor
 * Tao Okamoto, model
 * June 3: Masami Nagasawa, actress
 * June 17: Nozomi Tsuji, performer
 * June 19: Miho Fukuhara, singer
 * June 25: Takahiro Itō, actor and voice actor (died 2009)
 * July 3: Mikie Hara, gravure idol and actress
 * July 11
 * Shigeaki Kato, singer
 * Shun Yamaguchi, professional baseball player
 * July 17: Mio Nishimaki, wrestler
 * July 27: Kozue Akimoto, model
 * July 28: Sumire, model (died 2009)
 * August 11: Kazuki Sorimachi, football player
 * August 16: Eri Kitamura, voice actress and singer
 * August 24: Daichi Miura, singer and dancer
 * September 11: Kaori Matsumoto, judoka
 * September 21: Elly, Dancer and Rapper
 * September 28: Sho Uchida, freestyle swimmer
 * October 1: Hiroki Aiba, actor, dancer, and singer
 * October 3: Asami Kitagawa, swimmer
 * October 4: Atomu Tanaka, football player
 * October 8: Aya Hirano, voice actress and singer
 * October 15: Mizuho Sakaguchi, footballer
 * October 23: Miyuu Sawai, model, actress, and idol
 * October 23: Naomi Watanabe, actress and comedian
 * October 27: Thelma Aoyama, J-Pop and R&B singer
 * October 29: Makoto Ogawa, pop singer
 * November 11: Yuya Tegoshi, singer
 * November 12: Kengo Kora, actor
 * November 27: Yuria Haga, model and actress
 * December 18
 * Miki Ando, figure skater
 * Ayaka, singer
 * Yuki Furukawa, actor
 * December 19: Shuko Aoyama, Japanese tennis player
 * December 20
 * Yutaka Otsuka, baseball player
 * Michihiro Yasuda, football player

Deaths

 * January 21: Ikki Kajiwara, author, manga writer, and film producer (b. 1936)
 * February 3: Prince Takamatsu (b. 1905)
 * March 8: Iwao Yamawaki, photographer (b. 1898)
 * April 5: Tsuneko Nakazato, novelist (b. 1909)
 * April 15: Masatoshi Nakayama, master of Shotokan karate (b. 1913)
 * April 21: Haruyasu Nakajima, baseball player (b. 1909)
 * May 10: Sadamichi Hirasawa, tempera painter (b. 1892)
 * June 6: Mori Mari, author (b. 1903)
 * June 16: Kōji Tsuruta, actor (b. 1924)
 * July 17: Yujiro Ishihara, actor (b. 1934)
 * July 20: Ichirō Arishima, comedian and actor (b. 1916)
 * August 5: Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, novelist, art critic, and translator of French literature (b. 1928)
 * August 7: Nobusuke Kishi, former prime minister (b. 1896)
 * August 10: Prince Yamashina Takehiko (b. 1898)
 * August 16: Sumiko Kurishima, actress and master of traditional Japanese dance (b. 1902)
 * November 11: Hiroshi Kawaguchi, actor (b. 1936)
 * December 29: Jun Ishikawa, author (b. 1899)

Statistics

 * Yen value: US$1 = ¥122 (low) to ¥152 (high)