Events in the year 1947 in Japan.

Incumbents

Supreme Commander Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) to the Japanese government, aiming to suppress its "milit ...

: Douglas MacArthur *

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

: Hirohito *

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Shigeru Yoshida (22 September 1878 – 20 October 1967) was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1946 to 1947 and from 1948 to 1954. Yoshida was one of the longest-serving Japanese prime ministers, and is the third-long ...

( Peer–Imperial appointment) until May 24,

Tetsu Katayama was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1947 to 1948. He bears the distinction of having been the first socialist to serve as Prime Minister of Japan. Early life He was born in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture on 28 July ...

( S–Kanagawa) * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Tadahiko Mibuchi from August 4 * Diet (Empire of Japan) ** President of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

: Takeshi Yamazaki ( L–Ibaraki) until March 31 ** President of the House of Peers:

Iemasa Tokugawa Prince also known as Iyemasa, was a Japanese political figure of the Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He was the 17th hereditary head of the former shogunal branch of the Tokugawa clan and the final President of the House of Peers in the ...

( Kayōkai–Prince) until May 2 ** Imperial Diet sessions: 92nd (regular session opened in December 1946, until March 31) * Diet (State of Japan) ** President of the House of Representatives:

Komakichi Matsuoka was a Japanese politician and labor activist. Born in Iwami Province (present day Tottori Prefecture), Matsuoka was a steelworker at Japan Steel Works who joined Suzuki Bunji as a business agent at the predecessor to the Japanese Federation of ...

(S–Tokyo) from May 24 ** President of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or ...

Tsuneo Matsudaira was a Japanese diplomat of the 20th century. Diplomatic and political career The son of Lord Matsudaira Katamori of Aizu, Tsuneo served as Japanese Ambassador to the United States. In 1929–1935 served as Ambassador to Britain, and in that ...

( Ryokufūkai–Fukushima) from May 20 **

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

sessions: 1st (special, May 20 to December 9), 2nd (regular, from December 10 to 1948)

Governors

* Aichi Prefecture:

Hideo Aoyagi Hideo (ひでお) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: * Hideo Den (田英夫, 1923–2009), Japanese politician and news presenter * Hideo Fujimoto (藤本英雄, 1918–1997), Japanese baseball player * ...

(starting 12 April) *Akita Prefecture: Kosaku Hasuike (starting 12 April) *Aomori Prefecture:

Bunji Tsushima Bunji or Bunji-ye may refer to: Places * Bunji-ye Karbasi, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran * Bunji-ye Maski, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran * Bunji-ye Saheli Latidan, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran * Bunji, Pakistan, a town ...

(starting 12 April) *Chiba Prefecture: Tamenosuke Kawaguchi (starting 12 April) *Ehime Prefecture: Juushin Aoki (starting 12 April) *Fukui Prefecture: Harukazu Obata (starting 12 April) *Fukuoka Prefecture:

Katsuji Sugimoto Katsuji is both a masculine Japanese given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *, better known as Mr. Hito, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japanese photographer *Katsuji Hasegawa Katsuji Hasegawa (born 3 May 1 ...

(starting 12 April) *Fukushima Prefecture: Kan'ichirō Ishihara (starting 12 April) *Gifu Prefecture:

Kamon Muto Kamon may refer to: * Kamon (name) *Mon (emblem), also known as kamon (家紋), a Japanese heraldic symbol * Kamon, Israel, a village See also * Camon (disambiguation) * Kumon (disambiguation) *Cimon Cimon or Kimon ( grc-gre, Κίμων; – 45 ...

(starting 12 April) *Gunma Prefecture:

Shigeo Kitano Shigeo (written: 茂雄, 茂生, 茂男, 茂夫, 成雄, 成男, 重雄, 重男, 重夫, 繁雄, 繁男, 晟郎, 殖生 or 滋雄) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese photographer *, Japanese swimm ...

(starting 12 April) * Hiroshima Prefecture:

Tsunei Kusunose was the Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture from October 1945 to 1950. Kusunose was appointed to his position as governor at a time when the city of Hiroshima was in destruction following the first use of the nuclear bomb in August 1945. He was ...

(starting 12 April) *

Hokkaido Prefecture is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The ...

Toshifumi Tanaka Toshifumi is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Toshifumi can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Some examples: *敏文, "agile, literature" *敏史, "agile, history" *敏郁, "agile, aroma/progress" *� ...

(starting 12 April) *Hyogo Prefecture:

Yukio Kishida Yukio is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yukio can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *幸夫, "happiness, man" *幸生, "happiness, live" *幸男, "happiness, man" *幸雄, ...

(starting 12 April) *

Ibaraki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Tochigi Prefecture ...

: Yoji Tomosue (starting 12 April) * Ishikawa Prefecture: Wakio Shibano (starting 12 April) *Iwate Prefecture:

Kenkichi Kokubun Kenkichi (written: 健吉, 謙吉, 鎌吉, 鍵吉 or 憲吉) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese weightlifter *, Japanese mathematician *, Japanese businessman *, Japanese nobleman *, Japanese spor ...

(starting 12 April) *Kagawa Prefecture: Keikichi Masuhara (starting 16 April) *Kagoshima Prefecture: Kaku Shigenari (starting 5 April) *

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

: Iwataro Uchiyama (starting 16 April) *Kochi Prefecture: Wakaji Kawamura (starting 12 April and ending 11 November) *

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, M ...

: Saburō Sakurai (starting 12 April) * Kyoto Prefecture: Atsushi Kimura (starting 12 April) *Mie Prefecture:

Masaru Aoki was a Japanese Sinologist. Works Aoki wrote an article named "Hu Shih and the Chinese Literary Revolution" which was published in ''Chinese Study'' (T: 支那學, S: 支那学, P: ''Zhīnà Xué'') in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Aoki's w ...

(starting 12 April) * Miyagi Prefecture: Saburō Chiba (starting 12 April) *Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadao Annaka (starting 12 April) * Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi (starting 12 April) *Nagasaki Prefecture: Sōjirō Sugiyama (starting 16 April) *Nara Prefecture: Mansaku Nomura (starting 21 April) *

Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...

Shohei Okada is a Japanese footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules foo ...

(starting 21 April) *Oita Prefecture: Tokuju Hosoda (starting 12 April) * Okayama Prefecture: Hirokichi Nishioka (starting 16 April) * Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama (starting 12 April) *

Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasa ...

: Gen'ichi Okimori (starting 12 April) * Saitama Prefecture:

Mizo Nishimura Mizo may refer to: *Mizo people, an ethnic group native to north-eastern India, western Myanmar (Burma) and eastern Bangladesh *Mizo language, a language spoken by the Mizo people *Mizoram, a state in Northeast India *Lusei people, an ethnic group ...

(starting 12 April) *

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the north ...

: Iwakichi Hattori (starting 12 April) *Shiname Prefecture: Fujiro Hara (starting 16 April) *Shizuoka Prefecture: Takeji Kobayashi (starting 12 April) *Tochigi Prefecture: Juukichi Kodaira (starting 12 April) *Tokushima Prefecture:

Goro Abe Goro may refer to: Places Benin * Goro, Benin, an arrondissement in the Commune of Tchaourou, Borgou Ethiopia * Ejersa Goro, a town in Misraq Hararghe Zone, Oromia * Goro, Bale, a town in Bale Zone, Oromia * Goro, Mirab Shewa, a town in M ...

(starting 16 April) *Tokyo Prefecture: Seiichirō Yasui (starting 14 April) *Tottori Prefecture: Aiji Nishio (starting 12 April) *Toyama Prefecture: Tetsuji Tachi (starting 19 April) *Wakayama Prefecture:

Shinji Ono is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for J1 League club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. Career Urawa Reds Ono grew up in the Shizuoka Prefecture and began his professional career with Urawa Reds in the J1 League in 1998. ...

(starting 15 April) *Yamagata Prefecture: Michio Murayama (starting 12 April) *Yamaguchi Prefecture:

Tatsuo Tanaka Tanaka Tatsuo (Japanese: 田中龍夫, Tanaka Tatsuo; September 20, 1910 – March 30, 1998) was a Japanese politician and baron. He was the eldest son of Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi. Early life and education Born on September 20, 1910, in ...

(starting 16 April) *Yamanashi Prefecture: Katsuyasu Yoshie (starting 12 April)

Events

*February 25: Hachikō Line derailment *April 5: In the first phase of the first unified regional elections the governors of all 46 prefectures are elected directly for the first time. Also up are mayors of municipalities across the country. *March 3: Sekisui Chemical was founded. :ja:積水化学工業#沿革 (Japanese language edition) Retrieved date May 2020. *April 20: First election for the House of Councillors. 111 of 250 seats are won by non-affiliated candidates. *April 25: 23rd Election for House of Representatives.

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

wins 143 of 466 seats, followed by Liberal Party with 131 and Democratic Party with 124. *April 30: In the second phase of the unified regional elections prefectural and municipal assemblies are elected. *May 3:

Constitution of Japan The Constitution of Japan ( Shinjitai: , Kyūjitai: , Hepburn: ) is the constitution of Japan and the supreme law in the state. Written primarily by American civilian officials working under the Allied occupation of Japan, the constitutio ...

goes into effect. *May 24:

becomes prime minister. *August 4:

Supreme Court of Japan The , located in Hayabusachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, is the highest court in Japan. It has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the Japanese constitution and decide questions of national law. It has the power of judicial review, which allows it t ...

established. *September 14–16 – According to Japanese government official confirmed report, Typhoon Kathleen, an

embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...

collapse and flash flood occur around Saitama Prefecture, a

debris flow Debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of soil and fragmented rock rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors. They generally ...

and landslide occurred in

Ashikaga Ashikaga (足利) may refer to: * Ashikaga clan (足利氏 ''Ashikaga-shi''), a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Minamoto clan; and that formed the basis of the eponymous shogunate ** Ashikaga shogunate (足利幕府 ''Ashikaga bakufu''), a ...

Ichinoseki is a city located in Iwate Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. , the city had a population of 114,476 and a population density of 91 persons per km² in 46,375 households. It is currently the second largest city by population in ...

and

Mount Akagi is a mountain in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. The broad, low dominantly andesitic stratovolcano rises above the northern end of the Kanto Plain. It contains an elliptical, 3 x 4 km summit caldera with post-caldera lava domes arranged along ...

area, resulting to toll death number was 1,930 persons, 1,547 persons were wounded.

Births

*January 1 – Hideaki Yanagida, wrestler *January 18 **

Takeshi Kitano is a Japanese comedian, television presenter, actor, filmmaker, and author. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. With th ...

, comedian, actor and director **

Sachio Kinugasa Sachio Kinugasa ( 衣笠祥雄; January 18, 1947 – April 23, 2018) was a Japanese professional baseball third baseman for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Nippon Professional Baseball league from 1965 to 1987. He was nicknamed ja, Tetsujin, it ...

, professional baseball player (d.

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

) *January 22 –

Senichi Hoshino was a Nippon Professional Baseball player and manager. In 2003, he led the Hanshin Tigers to their first Central League pennant in 18 years before retiring for health reasons. In 2007, he managed the Japan national baseball team, Japanese natio ...

, professional baseball pitcher and coach (d.

) *February 5 –

Teruhiko Saigō was a Japanese singer and actor. As a singer, he was known as one of the three "''Gosanke''" (referring to ''gosanke'', the three great Tokugawa houses), along with Yukio Hashi and Kazuo Funaki. The stage name was based on the Meiji Restoration ...

, singer and actor *February 11 –

Yukio Hatoyama is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 16 September 2009 to 8 June 2010. He was the first Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1986, Hatoy ...

, politician *February 22 – Masahara Nakagawa, politician *March 6 –

Teru Miyamoto is a Japanese author. Biography Miyamoto was born in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan and graduated from the faculty of letters at Otemon Gakuin University after which he became a copywriter. In 1970, he began to write his first novel and quit hi ...

, author *March 20 –

Tamio Kageyama was a Japanese writer. The former television script writer and essayist won the 99th Naoki Prize in 1988 for his novel '' Coo: Tooi Umi Kara Kita Coo''. The novel was later adapted into an animated film. Kageyama also contributed to the films '' ...

, novelist (died

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

) *March 21 –

Kazuhiko Katō , nicknamed , was a Japanese record producer, songwriter and singer. He sometimes used the spelling of "Kazuhiko Katoh". History As a member of the Folk Crusaders, Katō launched his recording career in the mid-1960s. "Kaettekita Yopparai (I O ...

, musician (died 2009) *March 24 –

Meiko Kaji is a Japanese actress and singer. Since the 1960s, she has appeared in over 100 film and television roles, most prominently in the 1970s with her most famous roles as outlaw characters, best known for her performances in the film series '' Stra ...

, actress *April 9 –

Kazuko Sugiyama , known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress and voice actress who was born in Nagoya and works for Aoni Production. In February 2010, she received a "Merit Award" from the 4th Seiyu Awards. Filmography Anime *Hanako Mori in '' Inakappe ...

, voice actress *June 10 –

Hitoshi Igarashi was a Japanese scholar of Arabic and Persian literature and history and the Japanese translator of Salman Rushdie's novel ''The Satanic Verses''. He was murdered in the wake of fatwas issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran – who, by th ...

, scholar (died

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

) *September 20 –

Kazumasa Oda is a Japanese singer-songwriter, and composer. He was the leader of folk rock band Off Course from 1969 to 1989, and has done solo work since 1985. As the vocalist of Off Course, Oda wrote many Japanese standard numbers in the 70s and 80s. Th ...

, singer *September 26 –

Tadayoshi Yokota Tadayoshi Yokota (横田忠義 ''Yokota Tadayoshi'', born 26 September 1947) is a former volleyball player from Japan, who was a member of the Japan Men's National Team that won the gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the silver medal ...

, volleyball player *September 28 –

Keishi Suzuki is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes from 1966 to 1985.

, former professional baseball pitcher *October 7 –

Reiko Kuroda International Council for Science (ICSU)
, candidate presentations, p. 22 is ...

, chemist *November 4 –

Toshiyuki Nishida is a Japanese actor. He has won two Japanese Academy Awards for best actor, for '' The Silk Road'' (1988) and ''Tsuribaka Nisshi 6'' (1993). He has also won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for '' Get Up!'' and '' Tsuribaka Nisshi 14'' (200 ...

, actor *December 18 – Riyoko Ikeda, manga artist and singer *December 22 –

Mitsuo Tsukahara Mitsuo Tsukahara (塚原光男 ''Tsukahara Mitsuo'', born December 22, 1947) is a Japanese artistic gymnast. He was five times an Olympic Gold Medalist. He remained active in the sport after his retirement from competition. He served as vice p ...

, artistic gymnast

Deaths

*January 5:

Osami Nagano was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy and one of the leaders of Japan's military during most of the Second World War. In April 1941, he became Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff. In this capacity, he served as the n ...

, admiral (b.

1880 Events January–March * January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia. * January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy. * February � ...

) *January 10: Sakunosuke Oda, novelist (b.

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...

) *March 27: Hisakazu Tanaka (b.

1889 Events January–March * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in t ...

) *April 26:

Hisao Tani was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War who was convicted of war crimes. Forces under his command committed the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. Tani was tried in the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal and executed. ...

, lieutenant general (b.

1882 Events January–March * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in t ...

) *June 18: Shigematsu Sakaibara, admiral (b.

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

) *June 19: Kōsō Abe, admiral (b.

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies fo ...

) *July 13:

Yone Noguchi was an influential Japanese writer of poetry, fiction, essays and literary criticism in both English and Japanese. He is known in the west as Yone Noguchi. He was the father of noted sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Biography Early life in Japan Nog ...

, writer, poet, essayist and novelist (b.

1875 Events January–March * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the ...

) *July 30:

Kōda Rohan , pen name , was a Japanese author. His daughter, Aya Kōda, was also a noted author who often wrote about him. Kōda wrote "The Icon of Liberty", also known as "The Buddha of Art" or "The Elegant Buddha", in 1889. A house (Kagyu-an or "snail ...

, writer and author (b.

1867 Events January–March * January 1 – The Covington–Cincinnati Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, in the United States, becoming the longest single-span bridge in the world. It was renamed a ...

) *August 7: Masao Baba, general (b.

) *September 10:

Hatazō Adachi was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Early career Adachi was born into an impoverished family, originally descended from samurai, in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1890 (the 23rd year of the reign of Emperor Meiji, which i ...

, general (b. 1890) *October 18: Michiaki Kamada, vice-admiral (b. 1890) *December 6:

Tadashige Daigo Marquis was a vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Biography Born in Chiyoda, Tokyo into a '' kuge'' family of court nobility related to the Fujiwara aristocracy, Daigo was a graduate of the '' Gakushuin'' Peers' sch ...

, vice-admiral (b.

1891 Events January–March * January 1 ** Paying of old age pensions begins in Germany. ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. ** Germany takes formal possession of its new Af ...

) *December 30: Riichi Yokomitsu, novelist (b.

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1947 In Japan Years of the 20th century in Japan 1940s in Japan