Events in the year 1941 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 16 (昭和16年) in the

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written form starts with t ...

Incumbents

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 ...

: ** Fumimaro Konoe: until October 18 **

Hideki Tōjō Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assista ...

: from October 18

Governors

* Aichi Prefecture: Kodama Kyuichi (until 26 March); Yukisawa Chiyoji (starting 26 March) *Akita Prefecture: Fumi *Aomori Prefecture: Seiichi Ueda *Ehime Prefecture: Shizuo Furukawa (until 4 November); Susumu Nakamura Noriyuki (starting 4 November) *Fukui Prefecture:

Kubota Kubota machine is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Osaka. It was established in 1890. The corporation produces many products including tractors and other agricultural machinery, construction equipment, engines, vending machines, p ...

*Fukushima Prefecture: Sumio Hisakawa *Gifu Prefecture: Miyano Shozo (until 7 January); Tetsushin Sudo (starting 7 January) *Gunma Prefecture: Susukida Yoshitomo (until 20 October); Goro Murata (starting 20 October) * Hiroshima Prefecture: Katsuroku Aikawa (until 26 March); Tokiji Yoshinaga (starting 26 March) *

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 ...

: Tokitsugi Yoshinaga (until 26 March); Kanichi Naito (starting 26 March) *Iwate Prefecture: Yoshifumi Yamauchi *Kagawa Prefecture: Osamu Eianhyaku *

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 ...

Mitsuma Matsumura Mitsuma Matsumura (January 8, 1894 – April 10, 1970) was a Japanese politician who served as governor of Hiroshima Prefecture from Aug. 1, 1944 to Apr. 21, 1945. He was also governor of Tochigi Prefecture (1936–1937) and Kanagawa Prefecture ...

*Kochi Prefecture: Tomoichi Koyama (until 7 January);

Naoaki Hattori is a Japanese retired football player. His playing position is centre-back. He has previously played for Japanese sides Shimizu S-Pulse, Yokohama F. Marinos and Ventforet Kofu as well as Thailand's Muangthong United. Club career After gradua ...

(starting 7 January) *

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 ...

: Chioji Yukisawa * Kyoto Prefecture: Ando Kyoushirou *Mie Prefecture: Yoshiro Nakano * Miyagi Prefecture: Nobuo Hayashin (starting 7 January) *Miyazaki Prefecture: Toru Hasegawa (until 7 January); Osafume Katsumi (starting 7 January) * Nagano Prefecture: Noburo Suzuki *

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 ...

: Yasui Seiichiro (until 7 January); Doi Shohei (starting 7 January) * Okinawa Prefecture: Fusataro Fuchigami (until 7 January);

Hajime Hayakawa is the Japanese word meaning . In the Japanese traditional martial arts such as karate, judo, aikido, Kūdō and kendo, it is a verbal command to "begin". Hajime is also a common Japanese given name for males. In the Amami Islands, Hajime (元) i ...

(starting 7 January) *

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 ...

: Masaki (until 26 March); (starting 26 March) * Saitama Prefecture:

Toki Ginjiro Toki Ginjiro ( ja, 土岐銀次郎) (1894 – April 1, 1976) was Governor of Toyama Prefecture (1935–1938) and Saitama Prefecture (1938–1941). He was the deputy editor of the ''Tokyo Shimbun'', a newspaper published by the Chunichi Shimbun new ...

(until 7 April); Miyano Shozo (starting 7 April) *Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Otsubo *Tochigi Prefecture: Saburo Yamagata *

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Okada Shuzo Okada (written: 岡田 literally "hill rice-paddy") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the name include: * , Japanese painter * Doris Okada Matsui, American politician of the Democratic Party * , Japanese painter in the Edo period * , Japa ...

(until 7 January); Jitsuzo Kawanishi (starting 7 January) *Toyama Prefecture:

Kenzo Yano is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *賢三, "wise, three" *健三, "healthy, three" *謙三, "humble, three" *健想, "healthy, concept" *建造, "bu ...

(until 7 January);

Kingo Machimura was a Japanese politician who served as governor of Toyama Prefecture (1941–1943), governor of Niigata Prefecture (1945) and the second Governor of Hokkaido (1959–1971). He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He was a graduate of ...

(starting 7 January) *Yamagata Prefecture: Hee Yamauchi

Events

*January 25 – Panjiayu tragedy *January 30-March 1 –

Battle of South Henan The Battle of South Henan (), was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. This battle was the first time the NRA engaged the Japanese in sout ...

*March – Western Hubei Operation *March 14-April 9 –

Battle of Shanggao The Battle of Shanggao (), also called Operation Kinkō ( ja, 錦江作戦), was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanes ...

*May 7–27 –

Battle of South Shanxi The Battle of South Shanxi , also known as the Battle of Jinnan () and Zhongtiao Mountains campaign () by the Chinese and as the Chungyuan Operation by the Japanese, was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army an ...

*July 29 – Organo is founded, as predecessor name was Yamanashi Chemical Industry. :ja:オルガノ#沿革 (Japanese language edition) Ritreveted date on May 24, 2020. *September 6-October 8 –

Battle of Changsha (1941) The Battle of Changsha (6 September – 8 October 1941; ) was Japan's second attempt at taking the city of Changsha, China, the capital of Hunan Province, as part of the Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) o ...

*September 16 – An express train collision with standing local passenger train in Aboshi Station,

Himeji 260px, Himeji City Hall is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 525,682 in 227,099 households and a population density of 980 persons per km². The total area of the city is ...

, Hyogo Prefecture. Total 85 persons were fatalities, 71 persons were wounded, according to Railway Ministry of Japan official confirmed report. *October 22 –

Takahito, Prince Mikasa was a Japanese prince, the youngest of the four sons of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako). He was their last surviving child. His eldest brother was Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). After serving as a junior cavalry officer in th ...

marries Yuriko Takagi henceforth

Yuriko, Princess Mikasa (born ; 4 June 1923), is a member of the Imperial House of Japan as the widow of Takahito, Prince Mikasa, the fourth son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. The Princess is the last surviving paternal great-aunt-in-law of Emperor Naruhito, an ...

*November Unknown – Toyō Optical and glass Manufacturing, as predecessor of optical instrument brand, Hoya was founded. *December 7 –

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

*December 7–13 – Niihau Incident *December 8–10 –

Battle of Guam (1941) The Battle of Guam was an engagement during the Pacific War in World War II, and took place from 8 December to 10 December 1941 on Guam in the Mariana Islands between Japan and the United States. The American garrison was defeated by Japanese ...

*December 8–23 –

Battle of Wake Island The Battle of Wake Island was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on Wake Island. The assault began simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor naval and air bases in Hawaii on the morning of 8 December 1941 (7 December ...

*December 8–25 – Battle of Hong Kong

Births

*January 3 – Judi Yassin, actress *January 5 –

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

, film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, author, and manga artist *January 22 –

Rintaro is the pseudonym of , a well-known director of anime. He works frequently with the animation studio Madhouse (which he co-founded), though he is a freelance director not employed directly by any one studio. He began working in the animation ind ...

, anime director *May 7 –

Kinichi Hagimoto is a Japanese comedian. He is active as a stage performer, emcee, and manager of the amateur Ibaraki Golden Golds (''ibaraki goruden gōruzu'') of the Japanese Baseball Association (''nippon yakyuu renmei''). Born in the Taitō ward of Tōky� ...

, comedian *June 29 –

Chieko Baisho is a Japanese actress and singer. In Japan, she is well known for her performance as Sakura in the '' Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series from 1969 until 1995. In addition, she has acted in many films directed by Yōji Yamada since the 1960s. She won ...

, actress and singer *July 8 –

Masayuki Minami was a Japanese volleyball player born in Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and ...

, volleyball player(d.

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

) *August 26 –

Akiko Wakabayashi is a retired Japanese actress. Career Wakabayashi is best known in English-speaking countries for her role as Bond girl Aki in the 1967 James Bond film '' You Only Live Twice''. Before this, she had made many films in her native Japan, especia ...

, actress *September 10 –

Gunpei Yokoi , sometimes transliterated Gumpei Yokoi, was a Japanese video game designer. He was a long-time Nintendo employee, best known as creator of the Game & Watch handheld system, inventor of the cross-shaped Control Pad, the original designer of the ...

, creator of

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...

and

Game & Watch The Game & Watch brand ( ''Gēmu & Uotchi''; called ''Tricotronic'' in West Germany and Austria, abbreviated as ''G&W'') is a series of handheld electronic games developed, manufactured, released, and marketed by Nintendo from 1980 to 1991. C ...

handheld systems (b.

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

) *November 21 –

Eiji Kanie was a Japanese actor and voice actor born in Tokyo. He is most remembered for being the first voice of Ramenman in ''Kinnikuman'' and for playing Vrlitwhai Kridanik in ''The Super Dimension Fortress Macross''. He died in 1985 of a subarachnoid ...

, voice actor (d.

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

) *December 10 –

Kyu Sakamoto was a Japanese singer and actor. He was best known outside Japan for his international hit song "Ue o Muite Arukō" (known as " Sukiyaki" in English-speaking markets), which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies. It reached numbe ...

, singer and actor (d.

)

Deaths

*January 22 – Hayashi Tadataka, former

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...

(b.

1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...

) *August 22 – Hasegawa Shigure, playwright (b. 1879) *August 27 –

Mitsuko Aoyama Mitsuko Thekla Maria, Countess of Coudenhove-Kalergi (german: Mitsuko Thekla Maria Gräfin von Coudenhove-Kalergi; 7 July 1874 27 August 1941), formerly known as , was one of the first Japanese people to immigrate to Europe, after becoming the wi ...

, emigrate, wife of

Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi Heinrich Johann Maria von Coudenhove-Kalergi (12 October 1859 – 14 May 1906), also known as Heinrich Coudenhove-Kalergi (styled as Count of Coudenhove until 1903 and Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi thereafter), was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat and ...

(b. 1874) *September 2 – Kei Okami, physician, first Japanese woman to obtain a degree in Western medicine from a Western university (b.

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final ...

) *December 11 –

Masaaki Iinuma was a Japanese aviator. Iinuma was born in Toyoshina (now part of Azumino, Nagano Prefecture), and was a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army flying school at Tokorozawa. At age 24 he gained fame as the pilot on the , a Mitsubishi Ki-15 ...

, aviator, flew the first Japanese-built aircraft from Japan to Western Europe (b. 1912) *December 13 – Shigenori Nishikaichi, military pilot (b. ca.

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...

) *December 24 – Sueo Ōe, athlete (killed in action) (b.

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

)

References