1987 in Japan

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito
• Prime Minister: Yasuhiro Nakasone until November 6, Noboru Takeshita
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Masaharu Gotōda until November 6, Keizō Obuchi
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōichi Yaguchi
• President of the House of Representatives: Kenzaburō Hara
• President of the House of Councillors: Masaaki Fujita
• Diet sessions: 108th, 109th, 110th, 111th, 112th

  Events

• January 27: Construction began on Kansai International Airport.
• February 9: First public float of NTT.
• March 17: Asahi beer starts selling Asahi Super Dry.
• April 1: Japanese National Railways is privatized and becomes the seven Japan Railways Group companies.
• April 4: The Ariake Coliseum in Koto Ward, Tokyo, is completed.
• June 1: Asahi TV starts broadcasting the popular short factual television programme See the World by Train
• June 6: A Shojuen elderly nursing home fire in Higashimurayama, Tokyo. according to Japanese Fire and Disaster Management agency confirmed report, 17 person lost to lives.
• July 12: Metal Gear is released by Konami.
• July 23: 1987 Tokyo Metropolitan area power outage, where 2.8 million household affected, which restore spent more three and half hours, according to Japanese government confirmed report.
• October 1: Nippon Gakki Company Ltd. is renamed to Yamaha Corporation and Konishiroku Honten is renamed to Konica.
• October 12: Susumu Tonegawa wins the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
• November 6: Noboru Takeshita becomes prime minister.
• December 15: Production I.G is founded by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and Takayuki Goto.
• December 17: Mega Man is released.

• NTT began the first mobile phone service in Japan.
• Shoko Asahara founded Aum Shinrikyo.
• Teikyo University of Technology and Science founded in Chiba City, as predecessor of Teikyo Heisei University.

  Births

• January 3: Nana Yanagisawa, actress and fashion model
• January 8: Saori Gotō, voice actress
• January 23: Yuto Nakamura, football player
• February 12: Asami Tano, Japanese voice actress
• February 15: Azumi Yamamoto, voice actress
• March 12: Hiroomi Tosaka, Singer
• March 15: Momoko Shibuya, actress
• March 24: Yuma Asami, adult video actress
• March 25: Nobunari Oda, figure skater
• March 26: YUI, singer-songwriter
• April 27: Anne Suzuki, actress
• May 2
• *Miyu Uehara, gravure idol and television personality
• *Nana Kitade, singer
• May 7: Asami Konno, J-pop singer
• May 20: Taku Takeuchi, ski jumper
• May 22
• *Takuya Eguchi, voice actor
• *Tao Okamoto, model
• June 3: Masami Nagasawa, actress
• June 17: Nozomi Tsuji, performer
• June 19: Miho Fukuhara, singer
• June 25: Takahiro Itō, actor and voice actor
• July 3: Mikie Hara, gravure idol and actress
• July 11
• *Shigeaki Kato, singer
• *Shun Yamaguchi, professional baseball player
• July 17: Mio Nishimaki, wrestler
• July 27: Kozue Akimoto, model
• July 28: Sumire, model
• August 11: Kazuki Sorimachi, football player
• August 16: Eri Kitamura, voice actress and singer
• August 24: Daichi Miura, singer and dancer
• September 11: Kaori Matsumoto, judoka
• September 21: Elly, Dancer and Rapper
• September 28: Sho Uchida, freestyle swimmer
• October 1: Hiroki Aiba, actor, dancer, and singer
• October 3: Asami Kitagawa, swimmer
• October 4: Atomu Tanaka, football player
• October 8: Aya Hirano, voice actress and singer
• October 15: Mizuho Sakaguchi, footballer
• October 23: Miyuu Sawai, model, actress, and idol
• October 23: Naomi Watanabe, actress and comedian
• October 27: Thelma Aoyama, J-Pop and R&B singer
• October 29: Makoto Ogawa, pop singer
• November 11: Yuya Tegoshi, singer
• November 12: Kengo Kora, actor
• November 27: Yuria Haga, model and actress
• December 18
• *Miki Ando, figure skater
• *Ayaka, singer
• December 20
• *Yutaka Otsuka, baseball player
• *Michihiro Yasuda, football player

  Deaths

• January 21: Ikki Kajiwara, author, manga writer, and film producer
• February 3: Prince Takamatsu
• March 8: Iwao Yamawaki, photographer
• April 5: Tsuneko Nakazato, novelist
• April 15: Masatoshi Nakayama, master of Shotokan karate
• April 21: Haruyasu Nakajima, baseball player
• May 10: Sadamichi Hirasawa, tempera painter
• June 6: Mori Mari, author
• June 16: Kōji Tsuruta, actor
• July 17: Yujiro Ishihara, actor
• July 20: Ichirō Arishima, comedian and actor
• August 5: Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, novelist, art critic, and translator of French literature
• August 7: Nobusuke Kishi, former prime minister
• August 10: Prince Yamashina Takehiko
• August 16: Sumiko Kurishima, actress and master of traditional Japanese dance
• November 11: Hiroshi Kawaguchi, actor
• December 29: Jun Ishikawa, author

  Statistics

• Yen value: US$1 = ¥122 to ¥152