1992 in Japan

Events in the year 1992 in Japan. It corresponds to Heisei 4 (平成4年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Akihito
 * Prime Minister: Kiichi Miyazawa (L–Hiroshima)
 * Chief Cabinet Secretary: Kōichi Katō (L–Yamagata) until December 12, Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa)
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Ryōhachi Kusaba
 * President of the House of Representatives: Yoshio Sakurauchi (L–Shimane)
 * President of the House of Councillors: Yūji Osada (L–proportional) until July 9, Bunbē Hara (L–Tokyo) from August 7
 * Diet sessions: 123rd (regular, January 24 to June 21), 124th (extraordinary, August 7 to August 11), 125th (extraordinary, October 30 to December 10)

Governors

 * Aichi Prefecture: Reiji Suzuki
 * Akita Prefecture: Kikuji Sasaki
 * Aomori Prefecture: Masaya Kitamura
 * Chiba Prefecture: Takeshi Numata
 * Ehime Prefecture: Sadayuki Iga
 * Fukui Prefecture: Yukio Kurita
 * Fukuoka Prefecture: Hachiji Okuda
 * Fukushima Prefecture: Eisaku Satō
 * Gifu Prefecture: Taku Kajiwara
 * Gunma Prefecture: Hiroyuki Kodera
 * Hiroshima Prefecture: Toranosuke Takeshita
 * Hokkaido: Takahiro Yokomichi
 * Hyogo Prefecture: Toshitami Kaihara
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Fujio Takeuchi
 * Ishikawa Prefecture: Yōichi Nakanishi
 * Iwate Prefecture: Iwao Kudō
 * Kagawa Prefecture: Jōichi Hirai
 * Kagoshima Prefecture: Yoshiteru Tsuchiya
 * Kanagawa Prefecture: Kazuji Nagasu
 * Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto
 * Kumamoto Prefecture: Joji Fukushima
 * Kyoto Prefecture: Teiichi Aramaki
 * Mie Prefecture: Ryōzō Tagawa
 * Miyagi Prefecture: Shuntarō Honma
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Suketaka Matsukata
 * Nagano Prefecture: Gorō Yoshimura
 * Nagasaki Prefecture: Isamu Takada
 * Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto
 * Niigata Prefecture: Kiyoshi Kaneko (until 9 September); Ikuo Hirayama (starting 25 October)
 * Oita Prefecture: Morihiko Hiramatsu
 * Okayama Prefecture: Shiro Nagano
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Masahide Ōta
 * Osaka Prefecture: Kazuo Nakagawa
 * Saga Prefecture: Isamu Imoto
 * Saitama Prefecture: Yawara Hata (until 12 July); Yoshihiko Tsuchiya (starting 12 July)
 * Shiga Prefecture: Minoru Inaba
 * Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita
 * 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: Ken Amano

Events

 * January 8: US President George H. W. Bush vomits in Prime Minister Miyazawa's lap during a state dinner.
 * January 12: According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a settlement ship Fukujin-maru, carrying 46 passengers and crew, capsizes off Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, 37 persons were rescued, 9 persons were their lost to lives.
 * January 13: Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
 * March 7: Sailor Moon began broadcasting on TV Asahi.
 * March 14: Nozomi services begin on the Tokaido Shinkansen.
 * March 25: Huis ten Bosch opens in Nagasaki Prefecture.
 * April 1
 * Chiba City is divided into wards.
 * Taiyo Kobe Mitsui Bank renames itself to Sakura Bank.
 * April 27: Kirby's Dream Land, the first video game in the Kirby series by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory and the debut of Kirby himself, is released.
 * May 2: Civil servants are granted a two-day weekend for the first time.
 * May 22: Japan New Party founded.
 * July 1: Yamagata Shinkansen opens.
 * July 26: In Upper House elections, the LDP holds on to a slim coalition majority.
 * October 14: Liberal Democratic Party member Shin Kanemaru resigns over the receipt of illegal payments from Sagawa Express.
 * October 23: Emperor Akihito visits the People's Republic of China for the first time.
 * October 29–November 8: Finals of the 1992 AFC Asian Cup held in Japan. The Japan national football team defeat the defending champions, Saudi Arabia, in the final in Hiroshima.

Births

 * January 6: Hiroya, kickboxer
 * January 12: Mao Kobayashi, idol
 * February 1: Mao Ichimichi, actress
 * February 7: Maimi Yajima, singer
 * February 26: Ai Shinozaki, gravure idol and singer
 * March 6: Momoko Tsugunaga, singer
 * March 11: Nao Tōyama, voice actress and singer
 * March 21: Erena Mizusawa, model and actress
 * March 25: Machico, singer and voice actress
 * March 27: Aoi Yūki, voice actress
 * April 13: Daichi Hashimoto, professional wrestler
 * April 25: Kyosuke Ikeda, actor and voice actor
 * May 1: You Kikkawa, singer
 * May 22: Chinami Tokunaga, J-pop singer
 * May 28: Gaku Shibasaki, footballer
 * June 27: Tsubasa Honda, actress and model
 * July 3: Maasa Sudo, singer
 * July 12: Anna Ishibashi, model and actress
 * July 15:
 * Hokutōfuji Daiki, sumo wrestler
 * Koharu Kusumi, J-pop singer, voice actress, and model
 * July 16: Tetsuto Yamada, baseball player
 * August 5: Yasutaka Uchiyama, tennis player
 * August 6: Saori Ōnishi, voice actress
 * August 10: Ari Ozawa, voice actress
 * August 16: Zawachin, model
 * August 18: Riko Narumi, actress and model
 * August 20: Mai Shiraishi, idol singer and model
 * August 23: Yuka Kono, figure skater
 * August 25: Miyabi Natsuyaki, singer
 * August 27
 * Ayame Goriki, actress, singer and model
 * Sayuri Matsumura, idol singer, model
 * September 3: Sachie Ishizu, tennis player
 * September 7: Suzuka Morita, model and actress
 * September 28: Koko Tsurumi, artistic gymnast
 * October 2: Yasuaki Yamasaki, professional baseball player
 * October 3: Aina Hashimoto, singer, actress and voice actress
 * October 4: Shun Miyazato, actor and voice actor
 * October 5: Hirotaka Chiba, actor and voice actor
 * October 19: Shiho, actress and model
 * October 27: Taiko Katono, actor and model
 * November 5: Takuya Kai, baseball player
 * November 15: Minami Minegishi, singer and actress
 * November 20: Maiha Ishimura, singer
 * November 25: Haru Nomura, golfer
 * December 8: Yui Yokoyama, singer and actress
 * December 14: Ryo Miyaichi, footballer
 * December 20: Shuta Tonosaki, professional baseball player
 * December 22: Shiori Kutsuna, actress and idol

Deaths

 * April 25: Yutaka Ozaki, songwriter and rock star (b. 1965)
 * May 11: Taku Izumi, composer (b. 1930)
 * May 22: Lee Yangji, author (b. 1955)
 * May 24: Hitoshi Ogawa, racing car driver (b. 1956)
 * May 27: Machiko Hasegawa, illustrator (b. 1920)
 * May 29: Yoshitoshi Mori, artist (b. 1898)
 * June 8: Sakae Ōba, officer of the Imperial Japanese Army (b. 1914)
 * June 10: Hachidai Nakamura, composer (b. 1931)
 * July 5: Toshirō Oumi, singer, composer (b. 1918)
 * August 4: Seicho Matsumoto, author (b. 1909)
 * August 12: Kenji Nakagami, author (b. 1946)
 * September 5: Yasuji Mori, animator (b. 1925)
 * September 25: Kazuko Matsuo, singer (b. 1935)

Statistics

 * Yen value: US$1 = ¥111.85 (December 31)