Events in the year 1942 in Japan.
Incumbents Emperor: Hirohito Prime Minister: Hideki Tōjō
Governors Aichi Prefecture: Yukisawa Chiyoji Akita Prefecture: Fumi Aomori Prefecture: Seiichi Ueda (until 9 June); Shunsuke Yamada (starting 9 June) Ehime Prefecture: Masatomi Hatakeda (until 7 July); Ryuichi Fukumoto (starting 7 July) Fukui Prefecture: until 9 January: Kubota 9 January-15 June: Shigeo Miyoshi starting 15 June: Nagano Wakamatsu Fukushima Prefecture: Sumio Hisakawa (until 7 July); Yoshio Araki (starting 7 July) Gifu Prefecture: Tetsushin Sudo (until 23 May); Miyoshi Shigeo (starting 23 May) Gunma Prefecture: Goro Murata Hiroshima Prefecture: Tokiji Yoshinaga (until 15 June); Saiichiro Miyamura (starting 15 June) Ibaraki Prefecture: Kanichi Naito (until 7 October); Tsujiyama (starting 7 October) Iwate Prefecture: Yoshifumi Yamauchi (until 15 June); Osamuzo Suzuki (starting 15 June) Kagawa Prefecture: Osamu Eianhyaku (until 9 January); Yoshiji Kosuga (starting 9 January) Kanagawa Prefecture: Mitsuma Matsumura (until month unknown) Kochi Prefecture: Naoaki Hattori (until 7 July); Satoru Okino (starting 7 July) Kumamoto Prefecture: Chioji Yukisawa (until 10 June); Hikari Akira (starting 10 June) Kyoto Prefecture: Ando Kyoushirou Mie Prefecture: Yoshiro Nakano (until 7 October); Koji Soga (starting 7 October) Miyagi Prefecture: Nobuo Hayashin (until 7 October); Otomaru Kato (starting 7 October) Miyazaki Prefecture: Osafume Katsumi Nagano Prefecture: Noburo Suzuki (until 9 January); Nagoya Osamu (starting 9 January) Niigata Prefecture: Doi Shohei Oita Prefecture: Ito Hisamatsu (starting 6 May) Okinawa Prefecture: Hajime Hayakawa Saga Prefecture: (until 23 May); Shogo Tanaka (starting 23 May) Saitama Prefecture: Miyano Shozo (until 9 January); Toshio Otsu (starting 9 January) Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Otsubo (until 9 January); Goro Koizumi (starting 9 January) Tochigi Prefecture: Saburo Yamagata (until 9 January); Sakurai Yasuemon (starting 9 January) Tokyo: Jitsuzo Kawanishi (until 9 January); Matsumura Miro (starting 9 January) Toyama Prefecture: Kingo Machimura Yamagata Prefecture: Hee Yamauchi (until 7 July); Akira Saito (starting 7 July)
Events Below, events of World War II have the "WWII" preface
11 January – Japanese paratroopers land on Sulawesi. 12 January – Japan declares war on the Dutch. 22 January – Hideki Tōjō warns Australia that "if you continue resistance, we Japanese will destroy you." 4 February – Japan demands the surrender of Singapore. 17 February – Singapore is renamed Shōnan ("Light of the South"). 20 March – The navy minister, Admiral Shigetarō Shimada says that in view of the Allies' "Retaliation and hatred", Japan would no longer follow recognized rules of sea warfare. 18 April – Doolittle Raid, the first bombing raid on the Japanese home islands 25 May – Four ships leave Hokkaido to stage a diversionary raid on the Aleutian Islands. 4–7 June – Battle of Midway 21 August – Battle of the Tenaru 11–12 October – Battle of Cape Esperance 12–15 November – Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
Births
January 8 – Junichiro Koizumi, 56th Prime Minister of Japan January 27 – Tasuku Honjo, immunologist February 1 – Masa Saito, professional wrestler (d. 2018) March 17 – Yoko Yamamoto, actress (d. 2024) March 29 – Kenichi Ogata, actor April 2 – Hiroyuki Sakai, chef April 25 – Katsuji Adachi, professional wrestler (d. 2010) May 24 – Ichirō Ozawa, politician July 3 – Mitsuhiro Kitta, golfer July 5 – Motoaki Inukai, footballer July 22 – Toyohiro Akiyama, astronaut August 31 – Isao Aoki, golfer September 16 – Tadamasa Goto, yakuza boss September 19 – Nobuo Sekine, sculptor (d. 2019)
Deaths May 11 – Sakutarō Hagiwara, writer, poet and critic (b. 1886) May 22 – Tateo Katō, fighter ace (b. 1903) May 29 – Akiko Yosano, author and poet (b. 1878) June 4 Jisaku Okada, Naval officer, killed in action at the Battle of Midway (b. 1897) Tamon Yamaguchi, admiral (b. 1892) June 5 – Ryusaku Yanagimoto, captain (b. 1894) August 21 – Kiyonao IchikiChen, Peter. "Ichiki Kiyonao". WW2 Database (b. 1892) August 26 – Junichi Sasai, aviator (b. 1918) September 5 – Toshinari Maeda, general (b. 1885) October 12 – Aritomo Gotō, admiral (b. 1888) October 21 – Toshio Ōta, aviator (b. 1919) October 26 – Yumio Nasu, major general (b. 1892) November 5 – Kiyoura Keigo, politician and Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1850) November 23 – Tomitarō Horii, lieutenant general (b. 1890) December 4 – Atsushi Nakajima, author (b. 1909)
See also List of Japanese films of the 1940s
References