# 1953 in Japan

Events in the year 1953 in Japan.

## Incumbents

* Emperor: Hirohito
* Prime minister: Shigeru Yoshida (Liberal Democratic)
* Chief Cabinet Secretary: Taketora Ogata until March 24, Kenji Fukunaga
* Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
* President of the House of Representatives: Banboku Ōno until March 14, Yasujirō Tsutsumi from May 18
* President of the House of Councillors: Naotake Satō until May 19, 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: Juukichi Kodaira
* 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: Tatsuo Tanaka (until 24 March); Taro Ozawa (starting 30 April)
* Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

## Events

* date unknown – The Japanese 10 yen coin is issued with serrated edges for a 5-year period, beginning in 1953. All 10 yen coins since have had smooth edges.
* June–August – Heavy massive rain, landslides, and flooding in western and southwestern Japan kill an estimated 2,566, and injure 9,433, mainly at Kizugawa, Wakayama, Kumamoto, and Kitakyushu.
* January 4 – NHK Radio broadcasts its first live marathon coverage.
* June 18 – Tachikawa air disaster - 129 die after a United States Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster II crashes shortly after taking off from Tachikawa Airfield.
* June 25 – 1953 North Kyushu flood hit in Chikugo River, Kitakyushu and Kumamoto area, 1013 persons were human fatalities, 2775 persons were hurt, according to Japanese government official confirmed report.
* July 20 – 1953 Kii Peninsula flood, according to Japanese government official confirmed report, 1124 persons were human fatalities, 5819 persons were wounded.
* August 15 – 1953 South Yamashiro flood, 429 person were human fatalities, with 994 person were hurt, according to Japanese government official confirmed report.
* September 23 – 1953 Typhoon Tess, 478 person were human fatalities, with 2559 persons were hurt, Japanese government official confirmed report.
* December 25 – The Amami Islands are returned to Japan from the US military following 8 years of occupation.
* A flood swept damage in Kokura of 1953 North Kyushu flood
* Damage in Ōkawara station by 1953 South Yamashiro Flood

## Births

* January 9
** Shigeru So, former long-distance runner
** Takeshi So, former long-distance runner
* January 29 - Yorie Terauchi, actress
* February 4 - Kitarō, New Age musician
* February 13 - Kaoru Kurimoto, novelist and writer (d. 2009)
* February 23 – Satoru Nakajima, racing car driver
* February 28 - Kōzō Murashita, singer and songwriter (d. 1999)
* March 2 – Kazuo Kitagawa, politician(Komeito)
* March 18 - Takashi Yoshimatsu, composer
* May 1 – Mayumi Aoki, swimmer
* May 4 – Masashi Ebara, actor and voice actor
* June 4 - Susumu Ojima, entrepreneur
* June 6 - June Yamagishi, Japanese guitarist
* July 12 – Akinobu Mayumi, former professional baseball player and coach
* July 14 – Katsuya Okada, politician
* July 19 - Shōichi Nakagawa, politician (d. 2009)
* July 31 - Tōru Furuya, actor, voice actor and narrator
* August 4 – Masataka Nashida, former professional baseball player and coach
* November 28 - Taeko Onuki, singer-songwriter
* December 6 - Masami Kurumada, manga artist and writer
* December 9 – Hiromitsu Ochiai, former professional baseball player and coach
* December 17 - Ikue Mori, drummer, composer, graphic designer
* December 28 - Tatsumi Fujinami, professional wrestler

## Deaths

* January 4 - Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu
* February 19 - Nobutake Kondō, admiral
* May 28 - Tatsuo Hori, writer, poet and translator (b. 1904)
* July 7 - Tsumasaburō Bandō, actor
* September 7 - Nobuyuki Abe, politician, military leader, Prime Minister