Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/January/January 31

January 31:

Events
 * 1882 - The first life insurance policy beneficiary in Japan collects on a policy.
 * 1944 - World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
 * 1947 - The General Headquarters issues an order prohibiting a general strike scheduled for February 1.
 * 1956 - Chiharu Igaya becomes the first Japanese to win an Olympic medal at the 7th Winter Olympics.
 * 1979 - Egawa Suguru joins the Hanshin Tigers and is traded the same day for the Tokyo Giants' Kobayashi Shigeru.

Births
 * 1543 - Tokugawa Ieyasu (d. 1616), shogun
 * 1935 - Kenzaburō Ōe, author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1948 - Muneo Suzuki, politician
 * 1961 - Mako Ishino, singer and actress
 * 1964 - Miki Maya, actress
 * 1966 - Ken Ishiguro, actor and voice actor
 * 1977 - Shingo Katori, singer and actor
 * 1990 - Kota Yabu, singer and actor

Deaths
 * 1398 - Emperor Sukō (b. 1334)
 * 1985 - Tatsuzō Ishikawa (b. 1905), author
 * 1999 - Giant Baba (b. 1938), wrestler