1944 in Japan

Events in the year 1944 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 19 (昭和19年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito
• Prime Minister:
• Hideki Tōjō, until July 22
• Kuniaki Koiso, from July 22

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture: Shinji Yoshino
• Akita Prefecture: Katsumi Osafune (until 7 January); Tadashi Hisayasuhiroshi (starting 1 August)
• Aomori Prefecture: Utsunomiya Kohei (until 1 August); Hiroo Oshima (starting 1 August)
• Ehime Prefecture: Aikawa Katsuroku (until 18 April); Chiyoji Kizawa (starting 18 April)
• Fukui Prefecture: Hatsuo Kato
• Fukushima Prefecture: Koichi Kameyama (until 18 April); Ishii Masakazu (starting 18 April)
• Gifu Prefecture: Miyoshi Shigeo (until 28 July); Masami Hashimoto (starting 28 July)
• Gunma Prefecture: Shinoyama Chiyuki (until 25 February); Ishii Einosuke (starting 25 February)
• Hiroshima Prefecture: Sukenari Yokoyama (until 1 August); Mitsuma Matsumura (starting 1 August)
• Ibaraki Prefecture: Sieve Yoshimi (until 25 August); Hisashi Imai (starting 25 August)
• Iwate Prefecture: Osamuzo Suzuki
• Kagawa Prefecture: Yoshiji Kosuga
• Kochi Prefecture: Saburo Takahashi
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Hikari Akira (until 1 August); Soga Kajimatsu (starting 1 August)
• Kyoto Prefecture: Chiyoji Yukizawa (until April); Arai Zentaro (starting April)
• Mie Prefecture: Yoshio Mochinaga
• Miyagi Prefecture: Nobuya Uchida (until 25 February); Tsurukichi Maruyama (starting 1 August)
• Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadao Nishihiro (until 1 August); Akira Taniguchi (starting 1 August)
• Nagano Prefecture: Yoshio Koriyama (until 1 August); Yasuo Otsubo (starting 1 August)
• Niigata Prefecture: Maeda Tamon
• Oita Prefecture: Motoharu Nakamura
• Okinawa Prefecture: Osamu Mori Izumi
• Saga Prefecture: (until 1 August); Miyazaki Kenta (starting 1 August)
• Saitama Prefecture: Sudo Tetsushin (until 1 August); Ryuichi Fukumoto (starting 1 August)
• Shiname Prefecture: Takeo Yamada
• Tochigi Prefecture: Soma Toshio
• Tokyo: Nisho Toshizo
• Toyama Prefecture:
• until 25 February: Saka Shinya
• 25 February-25 July: Shoichi Nishimura
• starting 25 July: Shigero Okamoto
• Yamagata Prefecture: Akira Saito

Events

• January 31-February 3 - Battle of Kwajalein
• February 17–23 - Battle of Eniwetok
• April 17-May 25 - Battle of Central Henan
• May–August - Battle of Changsha (1944)
• June 4-September 7 - Battle of Mount Song
• June 15-July 9 - Battle of Saipan
• June 15/16 - Bombing of Yawata (June 1944)
• June 19–20 - Battle of the Philippine Sea
• June 22-August 8 - Defense of Hengyang
• July 10-August 25 - Battle of Driniumor River
• July 21-August 10 - Battle of Guam (1944)
• July 24-August 1 - Battle of Tinian
• August 16-November 24 - Battle of Guilin-Liuzhou
• September 15-November 27 - Battle of Peleliu
• September 17-October 22 - Battle of Angaur
• October 10–20 - Formosa Air Battle
• December 7 - 1944 Tōnankai earthquake
• December 30–31 - Battle of Pearl Ridge

Births

• January 7 - Kotaro Suzumura, economist and professor emeritus of Hitotsubashi University and Waseda University (d. 2020)
• January 14 - Makiko Tanaka, politician
• January 20 - Isao Okano, retired judoka player
• January 25 - , writer (d. 2024)
• January 28 - Koji Wada, actor (d. 1986)
• February 8 - Isao Shibata, former professional baseball player
• April 5 - Hiroyuki Hosoda, politician (d. 2023)
• April 7 - Makoto Kobayashi, Nobel Prize-winning physicist
• April 16 - Shoji Tabuchi, fiddler
• May 5 - Hiroaki Inoue, baseball player (d. 2025)
• May 22 - Nakamura Kichiemon II, actor, kabuki performer, and costume designer (d. 2021)
• May 29 - , guitar maker (d. 2025)
• July 8 - Hironobu Takesaki, former Chief Justice of Japan
• July 15 - Ken Kagaya, painter and writer (d. 2003)
• August 30 - Yumiko Nogawa, actress
• September 12 - Yoshio Kikugawa, football player
• October 4 - Aki Kuroda, artist
• October 17 - Nobutaka Machimura, politician (d. 2015)

Unknown date

• Tōsha Rosen VI, percussionist in traditional Japanese theatre and dance
• , print artist

Deaths

• January 25 - Monzo Akiyama, admiral (b. 1891)
• February 21 - Yoshimi Nishida, general (b. 1892)
• March 29 - Kiichi Hasegawa, admiral (b. 1894)
• March 31 - Mineichi Koga, Marshal Admiral (b. 1885)
• May 24 - Matsuji Ijuin, vice admiral (b. 1893)
• July 6 - ChÅ«ichi Nagumo, admiral (b. 1887)
• July 8 - Takeo Takagi, admiral (b. 1892)
• July 10 - Yoshitsugu Saitō, lieutenant general (b. 1890)
• July 19 - Shigeo Arai, freestyle swimmer (b. 1916)
• July 28 - Takeshi Takashina, general (b. 1891)
• August 1 - Kiyochi Ogata, colonel
• August 2
• Kakuji Kakuta, captain (b. 1890)
• Goichi Oya, admiral
• August 11 - Hideyoshi Obata, general (b. 1890)
• October 15 - Masafumi Arima, admiral (b. 1895)
• October 26 - Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, flying ace (b. 1920)
• November 7 - Hotsumi Ozaki, journalist and soviet spy (b. 1901)
• November 18 - Tsunesaburō Makiguchi, educator (b. 1871)
• November 24 - Kunio Nakagawa, general (b. 1898)
• December 1 - Murakami Namiroku, novelist and fiction writer (b. 1865)

See also

• List of Japanese films of the 1940s

References