1949 in Japan

Incumbents

• Supreme Commander Allied Powers: Douglas MacArthur
• Emperor: Hirohito
• Prime Minister: Shigeru Yoshida
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Eisaku Satō until February 16, Kaneshichi Masuda
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Tadahiko Mibuchi
• President of the House of Representatives: vacant until February 11, Kijūrō Shidehara
• President of the House of Councillors: Tsuneo Matsudaira until November 14, Naotake Satō from November 15
• Diet sessions: 5th, 6th, 7th

  Events

• January 23 - 1949 Japanese general election
• January 26 - Horyuji fire in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture.
• 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.
• 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.

  Films

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
• March 3: Hiroshi Kajikawa, archer
• March 23: Aruno Tahara, voice actor
• April 26: Morio Kazama, actor
• April 26: Issei Sagawa, murderer
• May 9: Kenji Shimaoka, volleyball player
• May 11: Terumi Niki, actress
• May 12: Moto Hagio, manga artist
• June 5: Guts Ishimatsu, boxer
• June 20: Arase Nagahide, sumo wrestler
• June 27: Norio Nagayama, spree killer
• July 14: Toyokazu Nomura, judoka
• August 18: Takeshi Shudo, scriptwriter
• September 19: Sayoko Yamaguchi, model and actress
• September 20: Yutaka Higuchi, figure skater
• September 21: Yūsaku Matsuda, actor
• October 5: Takajin Yashiki, singer and television celebrity
• October 7: Yuji Katsuro, Nordic combined skier
• October 21: Masao Ohba, boxer
• November 17: Yoshito Yasuhara, actor and voice actor
• November 21: Kazumasa Hirai, weightlifter
• November 28: Kyoko Mizuki, author and manga artist
• December 2: Shūichi 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: Yoshijirō 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 Shōen, artist
• August 15: Kanji Ishiwara, war leader
• October 12: Kiyoshi Kawakami, journalist
• November 3: Hidemitsu Tanaka, author
• November 14: Matsudaira Tsuneo, diplomat
• November 20: Wakatsuki Reijirō, former prime minister
• November 25: Kazuo Mizutani, chief of staff
• December 14: Morita Sōhei, author

  Statistics

• Yen value: US$1 = ¥360