Events in the year 1952 in Japan.

Incumbents

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

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

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 is ...

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 ...

Chief Cabinet Secretary The is a member of the cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transp ...

: Shigeru Hori until October 30,

Taketora Ogata was a Japanese journalist, Vice President of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and later a politician. During the war, he joined the Imperial Rule Assistance Association. After the end of the war, he was purged from public service. Later, he became ...

*Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

: Kōtarō Tanaka *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 ...

Jōji Hayashi was a Japanese era name (年号, ''nengō'', lit. year name) of the Northern Court (Japan), Northern Court during the Nanboku-cho, Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Kōan (Muromachi period), ''Kōan'' and before Oan, ''Ōan''. This perio ...

until August 1, Banboku Ōno from August 26 to August 28 and from October 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, ...

: Naotake Satō

Governors

* Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara *Akita Prefecture: Tokuji Ikeda *Aomori Prefecture: Bunji Tsushima *Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata *Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu *Fukui Prefecture: Harukazu Obata *Fukuoka Prefecture: Katsuji Sugimoto *Fukushima Prefecture: Sakuma Ootake *Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto *Gunma Prefecture: Yoshio Iyoku (until 4 July); Shigeo Kitano (starting 5 August) *

Hiroshima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama Prefecture to the ...

: Hiroo Ōhara *

Hokkaido Prefecture is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

: Toshifumi Tanaka *Hyogo Prefecture: Yukio Kishida *

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 Prefectur ...

: Yoji Tomosue *

Ishikawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefectu ...

Wakio Shibano was a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan, a member of the House of Representatives of Japan, House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan, Diet (national legislature). A native of Sapporo, Hokkaido and graduate of Showa Pharma ...

*Iwate Prefecture: Kenkichi Kokubun *Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko *Kagoshima Prefecture: Kaku Shigenari *

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. Kana ...

: Iwataro Uchiyama *Kochi Prefecture: Wakaji Kawamura *

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, Miyaza ...

: Saburō Sakurai * Kyoto Prefecture:

Atsushi Kimura is a former Japanese football player. Club career Kimura was born in Ibaraki on May 1, 1984. He joined Gamba Osaka from youth team in 2003. However he could hardly play in the match, behind Naoki Matsuyo and Yosuke Fujigaya. In December 2009, ...

*Mie Prefecture: Masaru Aoki *

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the n ...

: Kazuji Sasaki (until 4 October); Otogorō Miyagi (starting 5 October) *Miyazaki Prefecture:

Tadao Annaka Tadao (written: 忠雄, 忠夫, 忠男, 忠生, 忠郎 or 理男) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese architect *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *Tadao Baba (born 1944), Japanese motorcycle engineer *, Jap ...

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the n ...

: Torao Hayashi *Nagasaki Prefecture: Takejirō Nishioka *Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda *

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 N ...

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 ...

*Oita Prefecture: Tokuju Hosoda *

Okayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture borders Tottori Prefecture to the nor ...

Yukiharu Miki was a Japanese physician and politician. He served as Governor for the Okayama Prefecture

* Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama *

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 ...

: Naotsugu Nabeshima *

Saitama Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefectur ...

: Yuuichi Oosawa *

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 *Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu *Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō *Tochigi Prefecture: Goro Abe *Tokushima Prefecture: Kuniichi Abe *Tokyo Prefecture:

Seiichirō Yasui Seiichirō Yasui was a Japanese politician and bureaucrat who held a variety of positions in Japanese government. He served as appointed Governor of Niigata Prefecture from 1940 to 1941, then as appointed Governor of Tokyo from 1946 to 1947, th ...

*Tottori Prefecture: Aiji Nishio *Toyama Prefecture:

Kunitake Takatsuji Kunitake (written: 国威, 国武 or 邦武) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese women's footballer *, Japanese businessman *, Japanese historian *, Japanese politician Kunitake (written: 国武) ...

*Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono *Yamagata Prefecture:

Michio Murayama Michio (written: 道夫, 道雄, 道郎, 通夫 or 三知男) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese shogi player *, Japanese dancer and choreographer * Michio Kaku (born 1947), American theoretical p ...

*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, i ...

*Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

Events

*March 4 – A Richer Scale magnitude 8.1 earthquake with tsunami hit off coast Tokachi region, Hokkaido, according to Japanese government official report, 33 persons were fatalities with 287 persons wounded. *March 6 – The Musashino Bank (武蔵野銀行) was established in

. *March 7 – A Richer Scale magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit off coast

, seven persons died, eight persons were hurt, according to Japanese government official report. *April 10 – According to Japan Transport Ministry official confirmed report, Japan Airlines Flight 301 crash into

Izu Ōshima is an inhabited volcanic island in the Izu archipelago in the Philippine Sea, off the coast of Honshu, Japan, east of the Izu Peninsula and southwest of Bōsō Peninsula. As with the other islands in the Izu Island group, Izu Ōshima form ...

, all 37 persons and crew were died. *April 17 – According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, a massive fire in Tottori City, resulting to 160 hectares (395 acres), total 7,240 houses and building damage, kills two persons. :ja:鳥取大火 (Japanese language edition) Retrieved date on July 6, 2021. *April 28 -

Treaty of San Francisco The , also called the , re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers on behalf of the United Nations by ending the legal state of war and providing for redress for hostile actions up to and including World War II. It w ...

goes into effect, ending the Allied occupation of Japan. *July 18 – A Richer Scale magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit in Takatori, Nara Prefecture, nine persons were fatalities, with 139 persons hurt, according to Japanese government official report. *September 23 – According to

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard of Japan. The Japan Coast Guard consists of about 13,700 personnel and is responsible for the protection of the coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Th ...

official confirmed report, a ''Kaiyō-maru five'' entrained by the eruption into Myōjin-shō, all 31 crew were human fatalities. *October 1 -

1952 Japanese general election General elections were held in Japan on 1 October 1952. The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 242 of the 466 seats. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p ...

File:1952 Tokachioki Earthquake.JPG, A

tidal wave Tidal wave may refer to: Seas and oceans * A tidal bore, which is a large movement of water formed by the funnelling of the incoming tide into a river or narrow bay * A storm surge, or tidal surge, which can cause waves that breach flood defence ...

damage on 1952 Tokachi earthquake on March 4. File:Aircraft accident of Mokusei-go.JPG, An aftermath crash Japan Airlines Flight 301 in Izu Oshima on April 10. File:Great Fire of Tottori Scan10052.JPG, A buring on many houses and buildings in 1952 Tottori Fire on April 17.

Films

* The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice

Births

*January 2 - Makoto Nakajima, bureaucrat, Commissioner of the

Japan Patent Office The is a Japanese governmental agency in charge of industrial property right affairs, under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The Japan Patent Office is located in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo and is one of the world's largest pa ...

*January 17 -

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto i ...

, musician, composer, producer and actor (

Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is cons ...

) *January 28 -

Tomokazu Miura is a Japanese actor. Life and career Miura attended Hino high school in Tokyo. He was originally a member of rock group RC Succession, but was asked to leave the group by their management when they signed a record contract. However, impressed b ...

, actor *February 3 - Miyako Yamaguchi *February 8 -

Daisuke Gōri was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Kōtō, Tokyo. Throughout his life, he was attached to TV Talent Center Tokyo, Yoshizawa Theatre School and then Mausu Promotion; he was attached to Aoni Production at the time of his dea ...

, voice actor (d.

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

) *February 19 – Ryū Murakami, novelist, short story writer, essayist and filmmaker *February 23 –

Miyuki Nakajima (born February 23, 1952, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and radio personality. She has released 43 studio albums, 46 singles, 6 live albums and multiple compilations as of January 2020. Her sales have been estimate ...

, singer *March 30 – Kazuyo Saeki, manga artist (d.

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

) *April 10 – Masashi Sada, singer, lyricist, composer, novelist, actor, and a film producer *May 2 –

Mari Natsuki , more commonly known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer, dancer and actress. Born in Tokyo, she started work as a singer from a young age. In 2007, Natsuki announced her engagement to percussionist Nobu Saitō, with their marriage taking ...

, singer, dancer and actress *May 18 - Ryūzaburō Ōtomo, voice actor *June 9 -

Yukihiro Takahashi Yukihiro Takahashi (高橋幸宏 ''Takahashi Yukihiro'', born June 6, 1952) is a Japanese musician, singer, record producer and actor, who is best known internationally as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the fo ...

, musician and singer (

) *June 20 -

Kōichi Mashimo (born June 21, 1952) is a Japanese anime director and the founder of the animation studio Bee Train. Since the creation of the studio, Mashimo directed or otherwise participated in a large number of the studio's works, for example, as a membe ...

, anime director *July 10 –

Yōko Asagami is a Japanese voice actress who is represented by Aksent. She is most known for the roles of Yuki Mori (''Space Battleship Yamato'') and Saeko Nogami (''City Hunter''). Her married name is . Asagmi was born in Otaru, Hokkaidō. In 1992, she ...

, voice actress *July 14 – Yutaka Mizutani, actor and singer *July 15 -

Yuriko Koike is a Japanese politician who currently serves as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. She graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1976 and was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan from 1993 until 2016, when she resigned t ...

, politician, cabinet minister and governor of Tokyo. *July 20 -

Keiko Matsuzaka (born July 20, 1952) is a Japanese actress. Early life Born in Ōta, Tokyo, her father was a naturalized South Korean while her mother was Japanese. Career In the 1960s, Matsuzaka became a child actress. Matsuzaka grew into adulthood in film ...

, actress *July 2 –

Rumiko Koyanagi , formerly known as during her Takarazuka Revue days, is a Japanese actress and singer. She began her career as a member of Takarazuka Revue. She won the award for best new artist at the 13th Japan Record Awards and won the Japan Music Award in ...

, actress and singer *November 16 -

Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in the history of video games, he i ...

, game designer *December 6 - Shio Satō,

Manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

artist (d.

) *

Shinichi Nishimiya was a Japanese diplomat. Nishimiya was appointed as Ambassador of Japan to the People's Republic of China in 2012. However, he died unexpectedly before traveling to China to present his credentials. Nishimiya studied in the United Kingdom. He wa ...

, diplomat, designated Ambassador to China in 2012.

Deaths

*April 21 - Isamu Yokoyama *August 22 -

Hiranuma Kiichirō was a prominent right-wing Japanese politician and Prime Minister of Japan in 1939. He was convicted of war crimes committed during World War II and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Early life Hiranuma was born in what is now Tsuyama Ci ...

*October 7 -

Keisuke Okada was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, politician and Prime Minister of Japan from 1934 to 1936. Biography Early life Okada was born on 20 January 1868, in Fukui Prefecture, the son of a samurai of the Fukui Domain. He attended the 15th ...

References

{{Asia topic, 1952 in 1950s in Japan Japan Years of the 20th century in Japan