# 1939 in Japan

Events in the year 1939 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 14 (昭和14年) in the Japanese calendar.

## Incumbents

* Emperor: Hirohito
* Prime Minister:
** Fumimaro Konoe: until January 5
** Kiichirō Hiranuma: 5 January – 30 August
** Nobuyuki Abe: from 30 August

### Governors

* Aichi Prefecture: Kotaro Tanaka
* Akita Prefecture: Kaoru Sasaki (until 11 January); Yukio Tomeoka (starting 11 January)
* Aomori Prefecture: Masanori Ogawa (until 1 March); Noburo Suzuki (starting 1 March)
* Ehime Prefecture: Shizuo Furukawa (until 15 July); Yoshio Mochinaga (starting 15 July)
* Fukui Prefecture: Nakano Yoshiro (until 14 April); Kiyoshi Kimura (starting 14 April)
* Fukuoka Prefecture: Kyuichi Kodama (starting 1940)
* Fukushima Prefecture: Seikichi Kimishima (until 5 September); Seikichi Hashimoto (starting 5 September)
* Gifu Prefecture: Miyano Shozo
* Gunma Prefecture: Shozo Tsuchiya (until 17 April); Kumano Ei (starting 17 April)
* Hiroshima Prefecture: Ichisho Inuma (until 5 September); Katsuroku Aikawa (starting 5 September)
* Ibaraki Prefecture: Shigeru Hamaza (until 11 January); Tokitsugi Yoshinaga (starting 11 January)
* Ishikawa Prefecture: Masasuke Kodama then Narita Ichiro
* Iwate Prefecture: Chiyoji Yukizawa
* Kagawa Prefecture: Nagatoshi Fujioka
* Kanagawa Prefecture: Seiichi Ōmura then Ichisho Inuma
* Kumamoto Prefecture: Tomoichi Koyama
* Kochi Prefecture: Fujioka Nagawa (until 17 April); Shunsuke Kondo (starting 17 April)
* Kyoto Prefecture: Tota Akamatsuko
* Mie Prefecture: Masatoshi Sato (until 3 January); Masanari Ogawa (starting 1 March)
* Miyagi Prefecture: Ryosaku Shimizu
* Miyazaki Prefecture:
** until 12 April: Jiro Ino
** 12 April-7 September: Kyuichiro Totsuka
** starting 7 September: Ryosaku Shimizu
* Nagano Prefecture: Tomita Kenji
* Nagasaki Prefecture: Jitsuzo Kawanishi
* Niigata Prefecture: Yasujiro Nakamura (until 5 September); Seikichi Kimishima (starting 5 September)
* Okinawa Prefecture: Fusataro Fuchigami
* Saga Prefecture: Tomoichi Koyama (until 17 April); Kato (starting 17 April)
* Saitama Prefecture: Toki Ginjiro
* Shiname Prefecture: Kyuichi Kodama (until 9 April); ... (starting 9 April)
* Tochigi Prefecture: Adachi Shuuritsu
* Tokyo: Okada Shuzo
* Toyama Prefecture: Kenzo Yano
* Yamagata Prefecture: Takei Yoshitsugu (until 17 April); Ishiguro Takeshige (starting 17 April)

## Events

* February - Hainan Island Operation
* March - Battle of Xiushui River
* March 1 – According to Japanese government official confirmed report, Japanese Imperial Army ammunition dump explode in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, 94 persons were human fatalities, 602 persons were hurt.
* March 17-May 9 - Battle of Nanchang
* April 20-May 24 - Battle of Suixian–Zaoyang
* May 11-September 16 - Battles of Khalkhin Gol
* June - Swatow Operation
* June 1 –Nippon Electric Works and Showa Fertilizer were merger, becomes name was Showa Denko.
* September 13-October 8 - Battle of Changsha (1939)
* Unknown date – Mukogawa Higher Women's School was founded, as predecessor of Mukogawa Women's University.

## Births

* February 9 – Tadahiro Matsushita, politician (d. 2012)
* February 17 – Toshihiro Nikai, politician
* March 2 – Takako, Princess Suga, youngest child of Emperor Shōwa
* April 9 – Ikuko Tani, actress, voice actress and narrator
* August 13 – Shijaku Katsura, rakugo performer (d. 1999)
* September 22 – Junko Tabei, mountaineer, first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest (d. 2016)

## Deaths

* February 18 – Kanoko Okamoto, author, poet, and Buddhist scholar (b. 1889)
* March 29 – Michizō Tachihara, poet and architect (b. 1914)
* September 7 – Kyōka Izumi, novelist and Kabuki playwright (b. 1873)
* November 11 – Kagaku Murakami, painter and illustrator (b. 1888)
* December 25 – Masao Nakamura, major general (b. 1892)