1954 in Japan

Events in the year 1954 in Japan.

← 1953 1952 1951 1954 in Japan → 1955 1956 1957
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	Other events of 1954 History of Japan Timeline Years

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito
• Prime minister: Shigeru Yoshida (Liberal Democratic) until December 10, Ichirō Hatoyama (Liberal Democratic)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Kenji Fukunaga until December 10, Ryutaro Nemoto
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
• President of the House of Representatives: Yasujirō Tsutsumi until December 10, Tō Matsunaga from December 11
• President of the House of Councillors: Yahachi Kawai

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: Shigeo Kitano
• Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroo Ōhara
• Hokkaido: Toshifumi Tanaka
• Hyogo Prefecture: Masaru Sakamoto
• Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue
• Ishikawa Prefecture: Wakio Shibano
• Iwate Prefecture: Kenkichi Kokubun
• Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
• Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono
• Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama
• Kochi Prefecture: Wakaji Kawamura
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Saburō Sakurai
• Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
• Mie Prefecture: Masaru Aoki
• Miyagi Prefecture: Otogorō Miyagi
• Miyazaki Prefecture: Nagashige Tanaka
• Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi
• Nagasaki Prefecture: Takejirō Nishioka
• Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
• Niigata Prefecture: Shohei Okada
• Oita Prefecture: Tokuju Hosoda
• Okayama Prefecture: Yukiharu Miki
• Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama
• Saga Prefecture: Naotsugu Nabeshima
• Saitama Prefecture: Yuuichi Oosawa
• Shiga Prefecture: Kotaro Mori
• Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu
• Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
• Tochigi Prefecture: Aiji Nishio (until 7 November); Juukichi Kodaira (starting 7 November)
• Tokushima Prefecture: Kuniichi Abe
• Tokyo: Seiichirō Yasui
• Tottori Prefecture: Shigeru Endo
• Toyama Prefecture: Kunitake Takatsuji
• Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
• Yamagata Prefecture: Michio Murayama
• Yamaguchi Prefecture: Taro Ozawa
• Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

Events

• January 2 - A stampede occurs in Nijubashi, Imperial Square, Tokyo, with 16 fatalities, according to Japan National Police Agency confirmed report.ja:二重橋事件
• January 18 – Mabuchi Motor was founded in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture.
• February 1 – A first issue of Chūnichi Sports was published in Nagoya.
• April 26 - Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai released in Japan.
• July 1 - The Japanese Self-Defense Forces are established.
• September 26
  • A typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait sinks the ferry Tōya Maru, killing over 1,100 passengers and crew, wrecks at least seven other ships and seriously damages nine more.
  • A massive fire in Iwanai, Hokkaido, a result of Typhoon Marie, leaves 38 people dead, 551 people injured according to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report.ja:岩内大火
• October 8 - A sightseeing boat Uchigo Maru capsized due to overcrowding in Lake Sagami, Kanagawa Prefecture, 22 junior high school students perished, according to Japanese government confirmed report.
• November 3 - Godzilla released in Japan.

• 
  A scene of stampede in Nijyubashi, Tokyo, 2 January.
• 
  1954 Toya Maru accident on 27 September.
• 
  A sightseeing boat Uchigo-Maru capsized in Lake Sagami, Kanagawa Prefecture on 8 October.

Births

• January 6 - Yuji Horii, video game designer
• January 8 - Yasushi Tao, professional baseball player and coach
• January 9 - Satoshi Kirishima, anarchist and terrorist (d. 2024)
• January 14 - Masanobu Fuchi, professional wrestler
• January 19 - Yumi Matsutoya, singer
• January 28 - Kaneto Shiozawa, voice actor (d. 2000)
• January 29 - Yukinobu Hoshino, cartoonist
• February 4 - Shigeru Chiba, Voice actor and actor
• February 11 - Noriyuki Asakura, composer
• February 17 - Yuji Takada, free-style wrestler
• March 2 - Gara Takashima, voice actress
• March 23 - Hideyuki Hori, voice actor
• March 26 - Kazuhiko Inoue, voice actor
• April 2 - Susumu Hirasawa, musician
• April 17 - Norio Imamura, voice actor
• April 22 - Jōji Nakata, voice actor
• April 29 - Kazuko Kurosawa, costume designer
• May 19 - Hōchū Ōtsuka, voice actor
• May 22 - Shuji Nakamura, electronics engineer
• June 2 - Chiyoko Kawashima, voice actress
• June 4 - Kazuhiro Yamaji, actor and voice actor
• July 10 - Yō Yoshimura, voice actor (d. 1991)
• July 2 - Saori Minami, idol and singer
• August 1 - Junpei Morita, actor and voice actor
• September 16 - Masahiro Andoh, musician, guitarist of T-Square (band)
• September 21 - Shinzō Abe, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2022)
• October 18 - Yūji Mitsuya, voice actor
• November 8 - Kazuo Ishiguro, author
• November 20 - Bin Shimada, voice actor

Deaths

• July 28 - Sōjin Kamiyama, film star during the silent film era (b. 1884)
• September 21 - Mikimoto Kōkichi, pearl farm pioneer (b. 1858)
• October 6 - Yukio Ozaki, politician (b. 1859)

See also

• 1954 in Japanese football
• List of Japanese films of 1954