Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/December/December 12

December 12:

Events
 * 1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: USS Panay incident - Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS Panay (PR-5) on the Yangtze river in China.
 * 1941 - World War II: Fifty-four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa is killed.
 * 1941  - World War II: USMC F4F "Wildcats" sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.
 * 1941  - World War II: India declares war on Japan.

Births
 * 1903 - Yasujirō Ozu (d. 1963), director and screenwriter
 * 1929 - Toshiko Akiyoshi, pianist and composer
 * 1955 - Nakamura Baijaku II, actor, bass player, and composer
 * 1960 - Masahiko Nishimura, actor
 * 1963 - Ai Orikasa, voice actress and singer
 * 1966 - Último Dragón, wrestler and actor
 * 1966 - Kōichi Nagano, voice actor
 * 1967 - Yuzo Koshiro, composer and producer
 * 1975 - Houko Kuwashima, voice actress and singer'
 * 1976 - Asaka Seto, actress
 * 1982 - Ai Kato, actress
 * 1984 - Airi Taira, actress
 * 1985 - Shihori Kanjiya, actress
 * 1986 - Mitsuhiro Hidaka, singer, rapper, actor, and dancer
 * 1996 - Karen Miyama, actress

Deaths
 * 1963 - Yasujirō Ozu (b. 1903), director and screenwriter