1993 in Japan

Events in the year 1993 in Japan. It corresponds to Heisei 5 (平成5年)) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

 * Emperor: Akihito
 * Prime Minister: Kiichi Miyazawa (L–Hiroshima) until August 9, Hosokawa Morihiro (JNP–Kumamoto)
 * Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa) until August 9, Masayoshi Takemura (NPH–Shiga)
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Ryōhachi Kusaba
 * President of the House of Representatives: Yoshio Sakurauchi (L–Shimane) until June 18, Takako Doi (S–Hyōgo) from August 6
 * President of the House of Councillors: Bunbē Hara (L–Tokyo)
 * Diet sessions: 126th (regular, January 22 to June 18), 127th (special, August 5 to August 28), 128th (extraordinary, September 17 to 1994, January 29)

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 (until 28 November); Yūzan Fujita (starting 29 November)
 * Hokkaido: Takahiro Yokomichi
 * Hyogo Prefecture: Toshitami Kaihara
 * Ibaraki Prefecture: Fujio Takeuchi (until 11 August); Masaru Hashimoto (starting 26 September)
 * 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 (until 4 October); Shirō Asano (starting 24 November)
 * Miyazaki Prefecture: Suketaka Matsukata
 * Nagano Prefecture: Gorō Yoshimura
 * Nagasaki Prefecture: Isamu Takada
 * Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto
 * Niigata Prefecture: Ikuo Hirayama
 * Oita Prefecture: Morihiko Hiramatsu
 * Okayama Prefecture: Shiro Nagano
 * Okinawa Prefecture: Masahide Ōta
 * Osaka Prefecture: Kazuo Nakagawa
 * Saga Prefecture: Isamu Imoto
 * Saitama Prefecture: Yoshihiko Tsuchiya
 * Shiga Prefecture: Minoru Inaba
 * Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita
 * Shizuoka Prefecture: Shigeyoshi Saitō (until 23 June); Yoshinobu Ishikawa (starting 1 August)
 * Tochigi Prefecture: Fumio Watanabe
 * Tokushima Prefecture: Shinzo Miki (until 4 October); Toshio Endo (starting 4 October)
 * Tokyo: Shun'ichi Suzuki
 * Tottori Prefecture: Yuji Nishio
 * Toyama Prefecture: Yutaka Nakaoki
 * Wakayama Prefecture: Shirō Kariya
 * Yamagata Prefecture: Seiichirō Itagaki (until 2 February); Kazuo Takahashi (starting 14 February)
 * Yamaguchi Prefecture: Toru Hirai
 * Yamanashi Prefecture: Ken Amano

Events

 * January 15: A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the shore of Kushiro, Hokkaido. Two people died and 966 were injured.
 * January 27: Sumo wrestler Akebono Tarō becomes the first non-Japanese to reach the rank of yokozuna.
 * April 15: 10th anniversary of the opening of Tokyo Disneyland.
 * May 15: The J-League is established
 * June 9: Crown Prince Naruhito marries Masako Owada.
 * June 22: New Party Sakigake breaks away from the Liberal Democratic Party.
 * July 7 - July 9: G7 summit is held in Tokyo.
 * July 16: The Yokohama Landmark Tower, Japan's tallest building until the opening of the Abeno Harukas skyscraper, is completed.
 * July 18: General elections for the House of Representatives of Japan are held. The Liberal Democratic Party fails to secure a majority.
 * August 1 to 6: A torrential rain and debris flow occur in Kagoshima area, Kyushu Island, according to a report by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, 72 people died and 142 were injured.
 * August 3: Kono Statement issued by Japanese government.
 * August 6: Hosokawa Morihiro is elected as the Prime Minister of Japan. A non-Liberal Democratic Party coalition government composed of seven parties is formed.
 * October 5: An accident on the Nankō Port Town Line, an automated people mover in Osaka, injures 215 people at Suminoekōen Station.

Births

 * January 6 – Taku Yashiro, voice actor
 * January 12
 * Aika Mitsui, singer
 * Yu Inaba, actor
 * January 29 – Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, singer and model
 * January 30 - Kodai Senga, professional baseball player
 * February 13 - Kasumi Arimura, actress
 * February 16 - Sōsuke Genda, professional baseball player
 * February 20 - Nanami Hashimoto, idol singer, model, actress
 * February 23 - Kasumi Ishikawa, table tennis player
 * March 24 - Ryo Ryusei, actor
 * April 1 - Keito Okamoto, singer
 * April 11 - Yūji Takahashi, footballer
 * April 26 - Kaoru Mitsumune, actress and model
 * May 3 - Shuto Takajo, professional baseball player
 * May 9 - Ryosuke Yamada, actor and singer
 * May 10 - Mirai Shida, actress
 * May 17 – Ayaka Sayama, gravure idol
 * June 15 - Kanna Arihara, singer
 * June 21 - Reni Takagi, idol
 * July 2 - Yosuke Kishi, singer and actor
 * July 13 - Rena Nōnen, actress and fashion model
 * July 14 - Sayaka Yamamoto, singer and actress
 * July 15 - Masataka Yoshida, professional baseball player
 * July 30 - Miho Miyazaki, singer and actress
 * August 3 – Yurina Kumai, singer
 * August 4 – Alan Shirahama, singer, dancer and actor
 * August 5 – Suzuka Ohgo, child actress
 * August 6 – Kaori Ishihara, voice actress
 * August 9 - Kensuke Kondo, professional baseball player
 * August 10 - Yuto Nakajima, singer
 * August 28 – Sora Amamiya, voice actress and singer.
 * August 31 – Haruka Imai, figure skater
 * September 1 - Shōta Imanaga, professional baseball player
 * September 19 – Miyuki Watanabe, singer and model
 * November 10 - Azusa Tadokoro, voice actress and singer
 * November 20 – Sumire Satō, actress and idol
 * November 26 – Erena Ono, singer
 * November 30 – Yuri Chinen, singer and actor
 * December 7 - Kiyou Shimizu, karate martial artist
 * December 15 - Yuko Araki, actress and model
 * December 18 - Riria, actress
 * December 23 - Ruriko Kojima, gravure idol and sportscaster
 * December 24 - Mariya Nishiuchi, actress, model and singer-songwriter
 * December 25 - Emi Takei, actress, model and singer
 * December 28 - Yua Shinkawa, actress and model

Deaths

 * January 22: Kōbō Abe, author (b. 1924)
 * February 9: Saburo Okita, former foreign minister (b. 1914)
 * February 28: Ishirō Honda, film director (b. 1911)
 * April 2: Masaichi Niimi, admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second World War  (b. 1887)
 * July 3: Tadao Yoshida, founder of the YKK Group, the world's largest zipper manufacturer (b. 1908)
 * July 10: Masuji Ibuse, writer (b. 1898)
 * August 6: Genkei Masamune, botanist (b. 1899)
 * August 21: Ichirō Fujiyama, composer and singer (b. 1911)
 * October 29: Masahiro Makino, film director (b. 1908)
 * November 14: Sanzō Nosaka, one of the founders of the Japanese Communist Party (b. 1892)
 * December 16: Kakuei Tanaka, former Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1918)
 * December 20: Iichirō Hatoyama, politician and diplomat (b. 1918)

Statistics

 * Yen value: US$1 = ¥109.91 (December 1)