Events in the year 1949 in Japan.
Incumbents Supreme Commander Allied Powers: Douglas MacArthur Emperor: Hirohito 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: Hideo Aoyagi 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: Tsunei Kusunose Hokkaido Prefecture: Toshifumi Tanaka Hyogo Prefecture: Yukio Kishida Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue Ishikawa Prefecture: Wakio Shibano Iwate Prefecture: Kenkichi Kokubun Kagawa Prefecture: Keikichi Masuhara Kagoshima Prefecture: Kaku Shigenari Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama Kochi Prefecture: Wakaji Kawamura Kumamoto Prefecture: Saburō Sakurai Kyoto Prefecture: Atsushi Kimura Mie Prefecture: Masaru Aoki Miyagi Prefecture: Saburō Chiba (until 3 January); Kazuji Sasaki (starting 25 February) Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadao Annaka Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi Nagasaki Prefecture: Sōjirō Sugiyama Nara Prefecture: Mansaku Nomura Niigata Prefecture: Shohei Okada Oita Prefecture: Tokuju Hosoda Okayama Prefecture: Hirokichi Nishioka Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama Saga Prefecture: Gen'ichi Okimori Saitama Prefecture: until 28 March: Mizo Nishimura 28 March-17 May: Yoshida Tadakazu starting 17 May: Yuuichi Oosawa Shiga Prefecture: Iwakichi Hattori 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 January 26 – A fire breaks out at Hōryū-ji temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, destroying several murals. 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.
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) 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
References