1949 in Japan explained

Events in the year 1949 in Japan.

Incumbents

• Supreme Commander Allied Powers

Douglas MacArthur

• Emperor

Hirohito^[1]

• Prime Minister

Shigeru Yoshida (L–Kōchi, 3rd term from February 16)

• Chief Cabinet Secretary

Eisaku Satō (not Diet member→L–Yamaguchi) until February 16, Kaneshichi Masuda (L–Nagano)

• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Tadahiko Mibuchi
• President of the House of Representatives: vacant until February 11, Kijūrō Shidehara (L–Ōsaka)
• President of the House of Councillors: Tsuneo Matsudaira (Ryokufūkai–Fukushima) until November 14, Naotake Satō (Ryokufūkai–Aomori) from November 15
• Diet sessions: 5th (special, February 11 to May 31), 6th (extraordinary, October 25 to November (?)), 7th (regular, December 4 to 1950, May 2)

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture

• • • • • • • Akita Prefecture: Kosaku Hasuike Aomori Prefecture: Bunji Tsushima Chiba Prefecture: Tamenosuke Kawaguchi Ehime Prefecture: Juushin Aoki Fukui Prefecture: Harukazu Obata Fukuoka Prefecture: Katsuji Sugimoto Fukushima Prefecture: Kan'ichirō Ishihara (until 30 November); vacant thereafter (starting 30 November)
  • Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto Gunma Prefecture: Yoshio Iyoku
• Hiroshima Prefecture

• Hokkaido Prefecture

Toshifumi Tanaka

• • Hyogo Prefecture: Yukio Kishida Ibaraki Prefecture

• Ishikawa Prefecture

• Iwate Prefecture: Kenkichi Kokubun
  • • Kagawa Prefecture: Keikichi Masuhara Kagoshima Prefecture: Kaku Shigenari Kanagawa Prefecture

• Kochi Prefecture: Wakaji Kawamura
• Kumamoto Prefecture

• Kyoto Prefecture

• Mie Prefecture: Masaru Aoki
• Miyagi Prefecture

Saburō Chiba (until 3 January); Kazuji Sasaki (starting 25 February)

• • Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadao Annaka Nagano Prefecture

• • • Nagasaki Prefecture: Sōjirō Sugiyama Nara Prefecture: Mansaku Nomura Niigata Prefecture

• • Oita Prefecture: Tokuju Hosoda Okayama Prefecture

• Osaka Prefecture

• Saga Prefecture

• Saitama Prefecture

• • • • until 28 March: Mizo Nishimura 28 March-17 May: Yoshida Tadakazu
  • starting 17 May: Yuuichi Oosawa
• Shiga Prefecture

• • • • • • • • • • • Shiname Prefecture: Fujiro Hara Shizuoka Prefecture: Takeji Kobayashi Tochigi Prefecture: Juukichi Kodaira Tokushima Prefecture: Goro Abe Tokyo Prefecture: Seiichirō Yasui Tottori Prefecture: Aiji Nishio Toyama Prefecture: Kunitake Takatsuji Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono Yamagata Prefecture: Michio Murayama Yamaguchi Prefecture: Tatsuo Tanaka Yamanashi Prefecture: Katsuyasu Yoshie

Events

• January 23 - 1949 Japanese general election^[2]
• January 26  - A fire breaks out at Hōryū-ji temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, destroying several murals.^[3]
• March Unknown date  - Mens Shop Ogori, as predecessor of Uniqlo was founded in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
• May 16: Opening of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya Stock Exchanges.
• May 25: Ministry of International Trade and Industry formed.
• June 1: Japanese National Railways become independent of the Ministry of Transportation.
• June 22: A Typhoon Della, torrential massibie rain and landslide hit, many ship and fishing boat plunged around Uwa Sea, Ehime Prefecture, 468 person were human fatalities, including a passenger ferry Aoba Maru, and 367 persons were hurt, according to Japanese government official confirmed report.
• July 5 - Shimoyama incident
• July 15 - Mitaka incident
• August 17 - Matsukawa derailment
• September 15: First limited express trains begin operation on JNR lines.
• October: Hideki Yukawa becomes the first Japanese winner of a Nobel Prize.
• December 1
  • Izumi Real Estate, later, Sumitomo Realty & Development was founded.
  • Marubeni was established that separate from Itochu.
• December 16  - Auto parts company Denso established.^[4]

Films

Late Spring

Births

• January 12: Haruki Murakami, author
• January 15: Rumi Tama, film director, actress, and screenwriter
• January 24: Rihoko Yoshida, voice actress
• January 28: Masachika Ichimura, voice actor and musical singer
• February 2: Yasuko Namba, mountaineer, summited the Seven Summits (d. 1996)
• March 3: Hiroshi Kajikawa, archer
• March 23: Aruno Tahara, voice actor
• April 26
  • Morio Kazama, actor
  • Issei Sagawa, murderer
• May 9: Kenji Shimaoka, volleyball player
• May 11: Terumi Niki, actress
• May 12: Moto Hagio, manga artist
• May 25: Yuki Katsuragi, singer (d. 2022)
• June 5: Guts Ishimatsu, boxer
• June 20: Arase Nagahide, sumo wrestler (d. 2008)
• June 27: Norio Nagayama, spree killer (d. 1997)
• July 14: Toyokazu Nomura, judoka
• August 18: Takeshi Shudo, scriptwriter (d. 2010)
• September 14: Eikichi Yazawa, singer
• September 19: Sayoko Yamaguchi, model and actress (d. 2007)
• September 20: Yutaka Higuchi, figure skater
• September 21: Yūsaku Matsuda, actor (d. 1989)
• October 5: Takajin Yashiki, singer and television celebrity (d. 2014)
• October 7: Yuji Katsuro, Nordic combined skier
• October 21: Masao Ohba, boxer (d. 1973)
• November 17: Yoshito Yasuhara, actor and voice actor
• November 21: Kazumasa Hirai, weightlifter
• November 24: Tamanofuji Shigeru, sumo wrestler (d. 2021)
• November 28: Kyoko Mizuki, author and manga artist
• December 2: Shūichi Ikeda, voice actor
• December 16: Kensaku Morita, actor, singer and governor of Chiba Prefecture
• December 20: Takao Okawara, film director, writer and producer
• December 28: Kaoru Kitamura, writer

Deaths

• January 8: Yoshijirō Umezu, war leader
• January 20: Iwata Nakayama, photographer
• February 6: Hiroaki Abe, admiral
• May 5: Hideo Nagata, poet and playwright
• May 6: Kunihiko Hashimoto, composer, violinist, conductor, and musical educator
• May 17: Unno Juza, founding father of Japanese science fiction
• June 30: Harukazu Nagaoka, diplomat
• July 1: Isamu Takeshita, admiral
• July 10: Moritake Tanabe
• August 7: Uemura Shōen, artist
• August 15: Kanji Ishiwara, war leader
• October 5: Yoshio Kodaira, rapist and serial killer (executed) (born 1905)^[5]
• October 12: Kiyoshi Kawakami, journalist
• November 3: Hidemitsu Tanaka, author
• November 14: Matsudaira Tsuneo, diplomat
• November 20: Wakatsuki Reijirō, former prime minister
• November 25: Kazuo Mizutani, chief of staff
• December 14: Morita Sōhei, author

Statistics

• Yen value: US$1 = ¥360 (fixed)

See also

• List of Japanese films of the 1940s

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hirohito Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts . Encyclopedia Britannica . 27 March 2019 . en.
2. Book: Pharr . Susan J. . Political Women in Japan: The Search for a Place in Political Life . 8 January 2021 . Univ of California Press . 978-0-520-35664-1 . en.
3. Jones . Murray . The Burned Murals of Hōryū-ji. A Transformation of the Gods . Art Journal . 1966 . 25 . 3 . 238–240 . 10.2307/774980 . 774980 . 0004-3249.
4. Book: Hong . Paul . Park . YoungWon . Building Network Capabilities in Turbulent Competitive Environments: Business Success Stories from the BRICs . 19 December 2014 . CRC Press . 978-1-4665-1576-5 . 134 . en.
5. Web site: Peace, It's Wonderful. https://web.archive.org/web/20091030144246/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,853940-2,00.html. dead. 30 October 2009. 9 February 2008 . 17 October 1949 . Time.