# 1958 in Japan

Events in the year 1958 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 33 (昭和33年) in the Japanese calendar.

## Incumbents

* Emperor: Hirohito
* Prime minister: Nobusuke Kishi
* Chief Cabinet Secretary: Kiichi Aichi until June 12, Munenori Akagi
* Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
* President of the House of Representatives: Shūji Masutani until April 25, Nirō Hoshijima from June 11 until December 13, Ryōgorō Katō
* President of the House of Councillors: Tsuruhei Matsuno

### Governors

* Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
* Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
* Aomori Prefecture: Iwao Yamazaki
* Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata
* Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
* Fukui Prefecture: Seiichi Hane
* Fukuoka Prefecture: Taichi Uzaki
* Fukushima Prefecture: Zenichiro Satō
* Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto (until 16 October); Yukiyasu Matsuno (starting 17 October)
* Gunma Prefecture: Toshizo Takekoshi
* Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroo Ōhara
* Hokkaido: Toshifumi Tanaka
* Hyogo Prefecture: Masaru Sakamoto
* Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue
* Ishikawa Prefecture: Jūjitsu Taya
* Iwate Prefecture: Senichi Abe
* Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
* Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono
* Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama
* Kochi Prefecture: Masumi Mizobuchi
* Kumamoto Prefecture: Saburō Sakurai
* Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
* Mie Prefecture: Satoru Tanaka
* Miyagi Prefecture: Yasushi Onuma
* Miyazaki Prefecture: Jingo Futami
* Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi
* Nagasaki Prefecture: Takejirō Nishioka (until 14 January); Katsuya Sato (starting 2 March)
* Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
* Niigata Prefecture: Kazuo Kitamura
* Oita Prefecture: Kaoru Kinoshita
* Okayama Prefecture: Yukiharu Miki
* Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama
* Saga Prefecture: Naotsugu Nabeshima
* Saitama Prefecture: Hiroshi Kurihara
* Shiga Prefecture: Kotaro Mori (until 6 December); Kyujiro Taniguchi (starting 7 December)
* Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu
* Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
* Tochigi Prefecture: Kiichi Ogawa
* Tokushima Prefecture: Kikutaro Hara
* Tokyo: Seiichirō Yasui
* Tottori Prefecture: Shigeru Endo (until 10 November); Jirō Ishiba (starting 3 December)
* Toyama Prefecture: Minoru Yoshida
* Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
* Yamagata Prefecture: Tōkichi Abiko
* Yamaguchi Prefecture: Taro Ozawa
* Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

## Events

* January 26 – According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a passenger ferry Nankai Maru capsized Kii Channel, between Wakayama City to Tokushima City, total 167 persons drowned.
* March 1 – Two medium-size airlines, FarEastern Airways of Japan and Nippon Helicopter Transport, are merged to become All Nippon Airways (ANA) which begins operation in Japan.
* March 9 – The Kanmon Tunnel opens, connecting Honshu and Kyushu by road for the first time.
* April Unknown date – Ohyama Blow Manufacturing, as predecessor of Iris Ohyama was founded.
* May 2 – Nagasaki Flag incident - Ultra-nationalists pull down a Chinese flag hanging outside an exhibition of postage stamps in Nagasaki, freezing relations between China and Japan.
* May 22 – General election of 1958 - The Liberal Democratic Party win 298 out of 467 seats.
* June 24 – According to official Japanese government confirmed report, a large scale eruption in Mount Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture, killed a total of twelve persons, and wounded 28.
* August 2 – An All Nippon Airways Douglas DC-3 plunges in the sea close to the Izu Islands, killing all 33 occupants of the aircraft.
* August 25 – Instant noodles go on sale for the first time in Japan.
* September 27 – Typhoon Ida kills at least 1,269 in Honshu.
* October 14 – Construction of Tokyo Tower is completed.
* November 10 – According to Japan Meteorological Agency official confirmed report, a large scale erupted in Mount Asama, Gunma Prefecture, ash height maximum 8,000 meters.
* December 23 – Tokyo Tower is opened to the public for the first time, at a final cost of ¥2.8 billion ($8.4 million in 1958).
* December 27 – National Health Care Act of 1958.
* unknown date - The Japanese 10 yen coin ceases having serrated edges after a 5-year period beginning in 1953. All 10 yen coins since have smooth edges.

## Births

* January 5 – Junko Yagami, singer and songwriter
* January 20 – Masuo Amada, voice actor
* January 30 – Sayuri Ishikawa, enka singer
* February 1 – Ryō Horikawa, voice actor
* February 4 – Saburō Tokitō, singer and actor
* February 11 – Shinobu Satouchi, voice actor
* March 10 – Hiroshi Yanaka, voice actor
* April 1 – Hiromi Kawakami, author and writer
* April 7 – Shinobu Adachi, voice actress
* April 12 – Hyōichi Kōno, adventurer (d. 2001)
* April 14 – Junko Sakurada, actress and singer
* April 21 – Yoshito Usui, manga artist, creator of Crayon Shin-chan (d. 2009)
* May 2 – Yasushi Akimoto, record producer, lyricist and television writer
* May 11 – Sayuri Kume, singer-songwriter
* June 14 – Masami Yoshida, javelin thrower (d. 2000)
* June 20 – Teiyū Ichiryūsai, voice actress
* July 5 – Kyoko Terase, voice actress
* July 22 – Tatsunori Hara, professional-baseball coach and player
* August 2 – Shō Hayami, voice actor and singer
* August 15 – Chiharu Suzuka, voice actress
* September 8
** Mitsuru Miyamoto, voice actor
** Reiko Terashima, manga artist and illustrator
* October 15 – Masako Katsuki, voice actress
* October 23 – Hiroyuki Kinoshita, actor and voice actor
* October 24 – Hatsuhiko Tsuji, professional baseball m coach and former player
* November 12 – Hiromi Iwasaki, singer
* November 27 – Tetsuya Komuro, music producer and songwriter
* December 2 – Mina Asami, actress
* December 26 – Mieko Harada, actress

### Date unknown

* Yoshiteru Otani, cartoonist

## Deaths

* April 2 – Jōsei Toda, educator and peace activist (b. 1900)
* September 20 – Ogasawara Naganari, admiral and naval strategist (b. 1867)