# 1954 in Japan

Events in the year 1954 in Japan.

## Incumbents

* Emperor: Hirohito
* Prime minister: Shigeru Yoshida (Liberal Democratic) until December 10, Ichirō Hatoyama (Liberal Democratic)
* Chief Cabinet Secretary: Kenji Fukunaga until December 10, Ryutaro Nemoto
* Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
* President of the House of Representatives: Yasujirō Tsutsumi until December 10, Tō Matsunaga from December 11
* President of the House of Councillors: Yahachi Kawai

### Governors

* Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
* Akita Prefecture: Tokuji Ikeda
* Aomori Prefecture: Bunji Tsushima
* Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata
* Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
* Fukui Prefecture: Harukazu Obata
* Fukuoka Prefecture: Katsuji Sugimoto
* Fukushima Prefecture: Sakuma Ootake
* Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto
* Gunma Prefecture: Shigeo Kitano
* Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroo Ōhara
* Hokkaido: Toshifumi Tanaka
* Hyogo Prefecture: Masaru Sakamoto
* Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue
* Ishikawa Prefecture: Wakio Shibano
* Iwate Prefecture: Kenkichi Kokubun
* Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
* Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono
* Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama
* Kochi Prefecture: Wakaji Kawamura
* Kumamoto Prefecture: Saburō Sakurai
* Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
* Mie Prefecture: Masaru Aoki
* Miyagi Prefecture: Otogorō Miyagi
* Miyazaki Prefecture: Nagashige Tanaka
* Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi
* Nagasaki Prefecture: Takejirō Nishioka
* Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
* Niigata Prefecture: Shohei Okada
* Oita Prefecture: Tokuju Hosoda
* Okayama Prefecture: Yukiharu Miki
* Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama
* Saga Prefecture: Naotsugu Nabeshima
* Saitama Prefecture: Yuuichi Oosawa
* Shiga Prefecture: Kotaro Mori
* Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu
* Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
* Tochigi Prefecture: Aiji Nishio (until 7 November); Juukichi Kodaira (starting 7 November)
* Tokushima Prefecture: Kuniichi Abe
* Tokyo: Seiichirō Yasui
* Tottori Prefecture: Shigeru Endo
* Toyama Prefecture: Kunitake Takatsuji
* Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
* Yamagata Prefecture: Michio Murayama
* Yamaguchi Prefecture: Taro Ozawa
* Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

## Events

* January 2 - A stampede occurs in Nijubashi, Imperial Square, Tokyo, with 16 fatalities, according to Japan National Police Agency confirmed report.ja:二重橋事件
* January 18 – Mabuchi Motor was founded in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture.
* February 1 – A first issue of Chūnichi Sports was published in Nagoya.
* April 26 - Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai released in Japan.
* July 1 - The Japanese Self-Defense Forces are established.
* September 26
** A typhoon in the Tsugaru Strait sinks the ferry Tōya Maru, killing over 1,100 passengers and crew, wrecks at least seven other ships and seriously damages nine more.
** A massive fire in Iwanai, Hokkaido, a result of Typhoon Marie, leaves 38 people dead, 551 people injured according to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report.ja:岩内大火
* October 8 - A sightseeing boat Uchigo Maru capsized due to overcrowding in Lake Sagami, Kanagawa Prefecture, 22 junior high school students perished, according to Japanese government confirmed report.
* November 3 - Godzilla released in Japan.
* A scene of stampede in Nijyubashi, Tokyo, 2 January.
* 1954 Toya Maru accident on 27 September.
* A sightseeing boat Uchigo-Maru capsized in Lake Sagami, Kanagawa Prefecture on 8 October.

## Births

* January 6 - Yuji Horii, video game designer
* January 8 - Yasushi Tao, professional baseball player and coach
* January 9 - Satoshi Kirishima, anarchist and terrorist (d. 2024)
* January 14 - Masanobu Fuchi, professional wrestler
* January 19 - Yumi Matsutoya, singer
* January 28 - Kaneto Shiozawa, voice actor (d. 2000)
* January 29 - Yukinobu Hoshino, cartoonist
* February 4 - Shigeru Chiba, Voice actor and actor
* February 11 - Noriyuki Asakura, composer
* February 17 - Yuji Takada, free-style wrestler
* March 2 - Gara Takashima, voice actress
* March 23 - Hideyuki Hori, voice actor
* March 26 - Kazuhiko Inoue, voice actor
* April 2 - Susumu Hirasawa, musician
* April 17 - Norio Imamura, voice actor
* April 22 - Jōji Nakata, voice actor
* April 29 - Kazuko Kurosawa, costume designer
* May 19 - Hōchū Ōtsuka, voice actor
* May 22 - Shuji Nakamura, electronics engineer
* June 2 - Chiyoko Kawashima, voice actress
* June 4 - Kazuhiro Yamaji, actor and voice actor
* July 10 - Yō Yoshimura, voice actor (d. 1991)
* July 2 - Saori Minami, idol and singer
* August 1 - Junpei Morita, actor and voice actor
* September 16 - Masahiro Andoh, musician, guitarist of T-Square (band)
* September 21 - Shinzō Abe, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2022)
* October 18 - Yūji Mitsuya, voice actor
* November 8 - Kazuo Ishiguro, author
* November 20 - Bin Shimada, voice actor

## Deaths

* July 28 - Sōjin Kamiyama, film star during the silent film era (b. 1884)
* September 21 - Mikimoto Kōkichi, pearl farm pioneer (b. 1858)
* October 6 - Yukio Ozaki, politician (b. 1859)