1974 in Japan

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito
• Prime minister: Kakuei Tanaka until December 9, Takeo Miki
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Susumu Nikaido until November 11, Noboru Takeshita until December 9, Ichitaro Ide
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Tomokazu Murakami
• President of the House of Representatives: Shigesaburō Maeo
• President of the House of Councillors: Kenzō Kōno
• Diet sessions: 72nd, 73rd, 74th, 75th

  Events

• May 9 - A magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes the Izu Peninsula, killing 30 and injuring 102.
• May 27 - Keyence was founded.
• June 20 - Daito Industry, as predecessor of Daito Trust Construction founded in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya.
• August 30 - A powerful bomb blast in Marunouchi business area, Tokyo, according to official confirmed resulting, 8 person fatalities, 376 were injures.
• November 9 - A LPG carrier, Juyo Maru 10 collision with Liberian cargo ship Pacific Ares, following caught fire in Tokyo Bay, according to Marine Safety Agency of Japan confirmed official, 33 persons lost to lives.
• December 18 - According to Japanese government official confirmed report, A petroleum tank broken in Mizushima refinery, Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, in affective 80,000 litter crude oil spill and contamination tide was widely Seto Inland Sea area, these place recoveries spend for more two years.

  Births

• February 7 -
• *Jun Seba, aka Nujabes, hip-hop producer
• *Yō Yoshida, actress
• February 27 - Hiroyasu Shimizu, speed skater
• March 28 - Daisuke Kishio, voice actor
• March 30 - Miho Komatsu, pop singer and songwriter
• June 13 - Takahiro Sakurai, voice actor
• June 17 - Mikiyo Ōno, model, actress and J-pop singer
• October 8 - Koji Murofushi, hammer thrower
• November 8 - Masashi Kishimoto, manga author
• December 4 - Tadahito Iguchi, baseball player
• December 27 - Fumiko Orikasa, voice actress and singer

  Deaths

• March 1 - Kōtarō Tanaka, jurist and law professor
• August 11 - Fusako Kitashirakawa, seventh daughter of Emperor Meiji
• December 24 - Sentarō Ōmori, admiral