# 1944 in Japan

Events in the year 1944 in Japan.

## Incumbents

* Emperor: Hirohito
* Prime Minister:
** Hideki Tōjō, until July 22
** Kuniaki Koiso, from July 22

### Governors

* Aichi Prefecture: Shinji Yoshino
* Akita Prefecture: Katsumi Osafune (until 7 January); Tadashi Hisayasuhiroshi (starting 1 August)
* Aomori Prefecture: Utsunomiya Kohei (until 1 August); Hiroo Oshima (starting 1 August)
* Ehime Prefecture: Aikawa Katsuroku (until 18 April); Chiyoji Kizawa (starting 18 April)
* Fukui Prefecture: Hatsuo Kato
* Fukushima Prefecture: Koichi Kameyama (until 18 April); Ishii Masakazu (starting 18 April)
* Gifu Prefecture: Miyoshi Shigeo (until 28 July); Masami Hashimoto (starting 28 July)
* Gunma Prefecture: Shinoyama Chiyuki (until 25 February); Ishii Einosuke (starting 25 February)
* Hiroshima Prefecture: Sukenari Yokoyama (until 1 August); Mitsuma Matsumura (starting 1 August)
* Ibaraki Prefecture: Sieve Yoshimi (until 25 August); Hisashi Imai (starting 25 August)
* Iwate Prefecture: Osamuzo Suzuki
* Kagawa Prefecture: Yoshiji Kosuga
* Kochi Prefecture: Saburo Takahashi
* Kumamoto Prefecture: Hikari Akira (until 1 August); Soga Kajimatsu (starting 1 August)
* Kyoto Prefecture: Chiyoji Yukizawa (until April); Arai Zentaro (starting April)
* Mie Prefecture: Yoshio Mochinaga
* Miyagi Prefecture: Nobuya Uchida (until 25 February); Tsurukichi Maruyama (starting 1 August)
* Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadao Nishihiro (until 1 August); Akira Taniguchi (starting 1 August)
* Nagano Prefecture: Yoshio Koriyama (until 1 August); Yasuo Otsubo (starting 1 August)
* Niigata Prefecture: Maeda Tamon
* Oita Prefecture: Motoharu Nakamura
* Okinawa Prefecture: Osamu Mori Izumi
* Saga Prefecture: Yue Yue [ja] (until 1 August); Miyazaki Kenta (starting 1 August)
* Saitama Prefecture: Sudo Tetsushin (until 1 August); Ryuichi Fukumoto (starting 1 August)
* Shiname Prefecture: Takeo Yamada
* Tochigi Prefecture: Soma Toshio
* Tokyo: Nisho Toshizo
* Toyama Prefecture:
** until 25 February: Saka Shinya
** 25 February-25 July: Shoichi Nishimura
** starting 25 July: Shigero Okamoto
* Yamagata Prefecture: Akira Saito

## Events

* January 31-February 3 - Battle of Kwajalein
* February 17–23 - Battle of Eniwetok
* April 17-May 25 - Battle of Central Henan
* May–August - Battle of Changsha (1944)
* June 4-September 7 - Battle of Mount Song
* June 15-July 9 - Battle of Saipan
* June 15/16 - Bombing of Yawata (June 1944)
* June 19–20 - Battle of the Philippine Sea
* June 22-August 8 - Defense of Hengyang
* July 10-August 25 - Battle of Driniumor River
* July 21-August 10 - Battle of Guam (1944)
* July 24-August 1 - Battle of Tinian
* August 16-November 24 - Battle of Guilin-Liuzhou
* September 15-November 27 - Battle of Peleliu
* September 17-October 22 - Battle of Angaur
* October 10–20 - Formosa Air Battle
* December 7 - 1944 Tōnankai earthquake
* December 30–31 - Battle of Pearl Ridge

## Births

* February 8 - Isao Shibata, former professional baseball player
* April 5 - Hiroyuki Hosoda, politician (d. 2023)
* April 16 - Shoji Tabuchi, fiddler
* July 8 - Hironobu Takesaki, former Chief Justice of Japan
* July 15 - Ken Kagaya, painter and writer (d. 2003)

## Deaths

* January 25 - Monzo Akiyama, admiral (b. 1891)
* February 21 - Yoshimi Nishida, general (b. 1892)
* March 29 - Kiichi Hasegawa, admiral (b. 1894)
* March 31 - Mineichi Koga, Marshal Admiral (b. 1885)
* May 24 - Matsuji Ijuin, vice admiral (b. 1893)
* July 6 - Chūichi Nagumo, admiral (b. 1887)
* July 8 - Takeo Takagi, admiral (b. 1892)
* July 10 - Yoshitsugu Saitō, lieutenant general (b. 1890)
* July 19 - Shigeo Arai, freestyle swimmer (b. 1916)
* July 28 - Takeshi Takashina, general (b. 1891)
* August 1 - Kiyochi Ogata, colonel
* August 2
** Kakuji Kakuta, captain (b. 1890)
** Goichi Oya, admiral
* August 11 - Hideyoshi Obata, general (b. 1890)
* October 15 - Masafumi Arima, admiral (b. 1895)
* October 26 - Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, flying ace (b. 1920)
* November 7 - Hotsumi Ozaki, journalist and soviet spy (b. 1901)
* November 18 - Tsunesaburō Makiguchi, educator (b. 1871)
* November 24 - Kunio Nakagawa, general (b. 1898)
* December 1 - Murakami Namiroku, novelist and fiction writer (b. 1865)