Events in the year 1949 in Japan.
Incumbents
- Supreme Commander Allied Powers: Douglas MacArthur
- Emperor: Hirohito
- Prime Minister: Shigeru Yoshida (LâÂÂKÃ
Âchi, 3rd term from February 16)
- Chief Cabinet Secretary: Eisaku SatÃ
 (not Diet memberâÂÂLâÂÂYamaguchi) until February 16, Kaneshichi Masuda (LâÂÂNagano)
- Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Tadahiko Mibuchi
- President of the House of Representatives: vacant until February 11, KijÃ
«rÃ
 Shidehara (LâÂÂÃ
Âsaka)
- President of the House of Councillors: Tsuneo Matsudaira (RyokufÃ
«kaiâÂÂFukushima) until November 14, Naotake SatÃ
 (RyokufÃ
«kaiâÂÂAomori) from November 15
- Diet sessions: 5th (special, February 11 to May 31), 6th (extraordinary, October 25 to November (?)), 7th (regular, December 4 to 1950, May 2)
Governors
Events
- January 23 - 1949 Japanese general election
- January 26 – A fire breaks out at HÃ
ÂryÃ
«-ji temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, destroying several murals.
- March Unknown date – Mens Shop Ogori, as predecessor of Uniqlo was founded in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
- May 16: Opening of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya Stock Exchanges.
- May 25: Ministry of International Trade and Industry formed.
- June 1: Japanese National Railways become independent of the Ministry of Transportation.
- June 22: A , torrential massibie rain and landslide hit, many ship and fishing boat plunged around , Ehime Prefecture, 468 person were human fatalities, including a passenger ferry Aoba Maru, and 367 persons were hurt, according to Japanese government official confirmed report.
- July 5 - Shimoyama incident
- July 15 - Mitaka incident
- August 17 - Matsukawa derailment
- September 15: First limited express trains begin operation on JNR lines.
- October: Hideki Yukawa becomes the first Japanese winner of a Nobel Prize.
- December 1
- Izumi Real Estate, later, Sumitomo Realty & Development was founded.
- Marubeni was established that separate from Itochu.
- December 16 – Auto parts company Denso established.
Films
Late Spring
Births
- January 12: Haruki Murakami, author
- January 15: Rumi Tama, film director, actress, and screenwriter
- January 24: Rihoko Yoshida, voice actress
- January 28: Masachika Ichimura, voice actor and musical singer
- February 2: Yasuko Namba, mountaineer, summited the Seven Summits (d. 1996)
- March 3: Hiroshi Kajikawa, archer
- March 23: Aruno Tahara, voice actor
- April 26
- Morio Kazama, actor
- Issei Sagawa, murderer
- May 9: Kenji Shimaoka, volleyball player
- May 11: Terumi Niki, actress
- May 12: Moto Hagio, manga artist
- May 25: , singer (d. 2022)
- June 5: Guts Ishimatsu, boxer
- June 20: Arase Nagahide, sumo wrestler (d. 2008)
- June 27: Norio Nagayama, spree killer (d. 1997)
- July 14: Toyokazu Nomura, judoka
- August 18: Takeshi Shudo, scriptwriter (d. 2010)
- September 14: Eikichi Yazawa, singer
- September 19: Sayoko Yamaguchi, model and actress (d. 2007)
- September 20: Yutaka Higuchi, figure skater
- September 21: YÃ
«saku Matsuda, actor (d. 1989)
- October 5: Takajin Yashiki, singer and television celebrity (d. 2014)
- October 7: Yuji Katsuro, Nordic combined skier
- October 21: Masao Ohba, boxer (d. 1973)
- November 17: Yoshito Yasuhara, actor and voice actor
- November 21: Kazumasa Hirai, weightlifter
- November 24: Tamanofuji Shigeru, sumo wrestler (d. 2021)
- November 28: Kyoko Mizuki, author and manga artist
- December 2: ShÃ
«ichi Ikeda, voice actor
- December 16: Kensaku Morita, actor, singer and governor of Chiba Prefecture
- December 20: Takao Okawara, film director, writer and producer
- December 28: Kaoru Kitamura, writer
Deaths
- January 8: YoshijirÃ
 Umezu, war leader
- January 20: Iwata Nakayama, photographer
- February 6: Hiroaki Abe, admiral
- May 5: Hideo Nagata, poet and playwright
- May 6: Kunihiko Hashimoto, composer, violinist, conductor, and musical educator
- May 17: Unno Juza, founding father of Japanese science fiction
- June 30: Harukazu Nagaoka, diplomat
- July 1: Isamu Takeshita, admiral
- July 10: Moritake Tanabe
- August 7: Uemura ShÃ
Âen, artist
- August 15: Kanji Ishiwara, war leader
- October 5: Yoshio Kodaira, rapist and serial killer (executed) (born 1905)
- October 12: Kiyoshi Kawakami, journalist
- November 3: Hidemitsu Tanaka, author
- November 14: Matsudaira Tsuneo, diplomat
- November 20: Wakatsuki ReijirÃ
Â, former prime minister
- November 25: Kazuo Mizutani, chief of staff
- December 14: Morita SÃ
Âhei, author
Statistics
- Yen value: US$1 = ÃÂ¥360 (fixed)
See also
References