1942 in Japan

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito
• Prime Minister: Hideki Tōjō

  Events

• 11 January - Japanese paratroopers land on Sulawesi.
• 12 January - Japan declares war on the Dutch.
• 22 January - Hideki Tōjō warns Australia that "if you continue resistance, we Japanese will destroy you."
• 4 February - Japan demands the surrender of Singapore.
• 17 February - Singapore is renamed Shōnan.
• 20 March - The navy minister, Admiral Shigetarō Shimada says that in view of the Allies' "Retaliation and hatred", Japan would no longer follow recognized rules of sea warfare.
• 18 April - Doolittle Raid, the first bombing raid on the Japanese home islands
• 25 May - Four ships leave Hokkaido to stage a diversionary raid on the Aleutian Islands.
• 4–7 June - Battle of Midway
• 21 August - Battle of the Tenaru
• 11–12 October - Battle of Cape Esperance
• 12–15 November - Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

  Births

• January 8 - Junichiro Koizumi, 56th Prime Minister of Japan
• January 27 - Tasuku Honjo, immunologist
• February 1 - Masa Saito, professional wrestler
• March 29 - Kenichi Ogata, actor
• April 2 - Hiroyuki Sakai, chef
• April 25 - Katsuji Adachi, professional wrestler
• May 24 - Ichirō Ozawa, politician
• July 3 - Mitsuhiro Kitta, golfer
• July 5 - Motoaki Inukai, footballer
• July 22 - Toyohiro Akiyama, astronaut
• August 31 - Isao Aoki, golfer
• September 16 - Tadamasa Goto, yakuza boss
• September 19 - Nobuo Sekine, sculptor

  Deaths

• May 11 - Sakutarō Hagiwara, writer, poet and critic
• May 29 - Akiko Yosano, author and poet
• June 4 - Tamon Yamaguchi, admiral
• June 5 - Ryusaku Yanagimoto, captain
• August 21 - Kiyonao Ichiki
• August 26 - Junichi Sasai, aviator
• September 5 - Toshinari Maeda, general
• October 12 - Aritomo Gotō, admiral
• October 21 - Toshio Ōta, aviator
• October 26 - Yumio Nasu, major general
• November 5 - Kiyoura Keigo, politician and Prime Minister of Japan
• November 23 - Tomitarō Horii, lieutenant general
• December 4 - Atsushi Nakajima, author