Events in the year 1989 in Japan. In the history of Japan, it marks the final year of the ShÃ
Âwa period, ShÃ
Âwa 64, upon the death of Emperor ShÃ
Âwa on January 7, and the beginning of the Heisei period, Heisei 1 (å¹³æÂÂÃ¥Â
Âå¹´ Heisei gannen, gannen means "first year"), from January 8 under the reign of his eldest son, the current Emperor Emeritus. Thus, 1989 corresponds to the transition between ShÃ
Âwa and Heisei periods in the Japanese calendar.
1989 was the first year of Heisei era in Japan as well as the all-time peak of the Nikkei 225 stock market average until being surpassed in 2024.
Incumbents
- Emperor:
- ShÃ
Âwa (until January 7)
- Akihito (starting January 7)
- Prime Minister:
- Noboru Takeshita (Liberal DemocraticâÂÂShimane) (until June 3)
- SÃ
Âsuke Uno (Liberal DemocraticâÂÂShiga) (June 3 â August 10)
- Toshiki Kaifu (Liberal DemocraticâÂÂAichi) (starting August 10)
- Chief Cabinet Secretary: Keizo Obuchi (Liberal DemocraticâÂÂGunma) until June 3, Tokuo Yamashita (Liberal DemocraticâÂÂSaga) until August 25, Mayumi Moriyama (Councillor, Liberal DemocraticâÂÂTochigi)
- Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: KÃ
Âichi Yaguchi
- Speaker of the House of Representatives: KenzaburÃ
 Hara (Liberal DemocraticâÂÂHyÃ
Âgo) until June 2, Hajime Tamura (Liberal DemocraticâÂÂMie)
- President of the House of Councillors: Yoshihiko Tsuchiya (Liberal DemocraticâÂÂSaitama) until July 9 and again from August 7
- National Diet sessions: 114th (regular session opened in December 1988, to June 22), 115th (extraordinary, August 7 to August 12), 116th (extraordinary, September 28 to December 16), 117th (regular, December 25 to 1990, January 24)
Governors
Events
January
February
April
June
July
- July 1: 100th anniversary of the foundations of KÃ
Âfu and Gifu City.
- July 12: 100th anniversary of the foundation of Akita City.
- July 16: A large-scale landslides occurred, following to a microbus crushed by rockfall prevention in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, according to official confirmed report, 15 people fatalities.
- July 23
- In the 15th regular election for the House of Councillors, Liberal Democrats lose their majority for the first time in party history. In the ensuing "twisted Diet" (nejire kokkai), it must cooperate with the Socialist-led opposition as it does not hold a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives. The Uno cabinet resigns.
August
- August 8: Reformist Toshiki Kaifu from the small KÃ
Âmoto faction is elected LDP president with 279 votes against YoshirÃ
 Hayashi (NikaidÃ
 group, a breakaway group from the Takeshita faction, 120 votes) and ShintarÃ
 Ishihara (formerly with his own faction that merged into the Abe faction in 1984, 48 votes)
- August 9: First Kaifu cabinet formed and formally appointed one day later.
September
October
November
- November 4: Sakamoto family murder - Aum Shinrikyo murders a lawyer, Tsutsumi Sakamoto, as well as his wife, Satoko, and infant son, Tatsuhiko, who had been working on a lawsuit against the religious group.
- November 22: The Japan Trade Union Confederation, or "RENGO", is founded with the merger of the Japan Confederation of Labor (DÃ
Âmei) and the Federation of Independent Labor Unions (ChÃ
«ritsu RÃ
Âren).
December
Births
- January 3 â KÃ
Âhei Uchimura, gymnast
- January 25 â Mikako Tabe, stage and film actress
- February 2 â Shuhei Fukuda, professional baseball player
- February 25: Kana Hanazawa, actress and singer
- March 17 â Shinji Kagawa, football player
- March 18 â Kana Nishino, singer-songwriter
- March 23 â Natsuna Watanabe, actress and model
- April 8 â Hitomi Takahashi, singer
- April 11 â Yoshihiro Maru, professional baseball player
- May 30
- Yui Ishikawa, actress and voice actress
- Akiyo Noguchi, professional rock climber
- June 5 â Megumi Nakajima, voice actress and singer
- June 7 â Seiji Kobayashi, professional baseball player
- June 23 â Ayana Taketatsu, voice actress and singer
- July 9 â Kiyono Yasuno, voice actress and singer
- July 13 â Sayumi Michishige, singer
- September 7 â Daiki Yamashita, voice actor
- September 17 â Yuhei Nakaushiro, baseball player
- September 26 â Chinami Suzuki, model, television host, and actress
- September 29 â Makoto Furukawa, voice actor
- October 11 â Tomoyuki Sugano, professional baseball pitcher
- October 21 â May'n, singer
- November 11
- Reina Tanaka, singer
- Chiaki Omigawa, voice actress and actress
- November 23 â Shinya Kayama, professional baseball player
- December 27 â Maaya Uchida, actress, voice actress and singer
- December 29 â Kei Nishikori, tennis player
Deaths
- January 4 â Junko Furuta, murder victim (b. 1971)
- January 7 â Emperor ShÃ
Âwa (b. 1901)
- January 31 â Yasushi Akutagawa, composer and conductor (b. 1925)
- February 9 â Osamu Tezuka, manga artist (b. 1928)
- April 27 â Konosuke Matsushita, founder of Matsushita Electric (b. 1894)
- May 15
- Noriko Tsukase, voice actress (b. 1945)
- Yae Ibuka, nurse (b. 1897)
- June 2 â Takeo Watanabe, musician and composer (b. 1933)
- June 24 â Hibari Misora, singer and actress (b. 1937)
- August 15 â Minoru Genda, military aviator and politician (b. 1904)
- August 18 â Yuji Koseki, composer (b. 1909)
- October 26 â Kumeko Urabe, film actor (b. 1902).
- November 6 â YÃ
«saku Matsuda, actor (b. 1949)
- December 12 â Suiho Tagawa, manga artist (b. 1899)
- December 30 â Yasuji Miyazaki, Olympic swimmer (b. 1916)
Statistics
- Yen value: US$1 = ÃÂ¥127 (low) to ÃÂ¥144 (high)
See also
References
External links