# 1992 in Japan

Events in the year 1992 in Japan. It corresponds to Heisei 4 (平成4年) in the Japanese calendar.

## Incumbents

* Emperor: Akihito
* Prime Minister: Kiichi Miyazawa (L–Hiroshima)
* Chief Cabinet Secretary: Kōichi Katō (L–Yamagata) until December 12, Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa)
* Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Ryōhachi Kusaba
* President of the House of Representatives: Yoshio Sakurauchi (L–Shimane)
* President of the House of Councillors: Yūji Osada (L–proportional) until July 9, Bunbē Hara (L–Tokyo) from August 7
* Diet sessions: 123rd (regular, January 24 to June 21), 124th (extraordinary, August 7 to August 11), 125th (extraordinary, October 30 to December 10)

### Governors

* Aichi Prefecture: Reiji Suzuki
* Akita Prefecture: Kikuji Sasaki
* Aomori Prefecture: Masaya Kitamura
* Chiba Prefecture: Takeshi Numata
* Ehime Prefecture: Sadayuki Iga
* Fukui Prefecture: Yukio Kurita
* Fukuoka Prefecture: Hachiji Okuda
* Fukushima Prefecture: Eisaku Satō
* Gifu Prefecture: Taku Kajiwara
* Gunma Prefecture: Hiroyuki Kodera
* Hiroshima Prefecture: Toranosuke Takeshita
* Hokkaido: Takahiro Yokomichi
* Hyogo Prefecture: Toshitami Kaihara
* Ibaraki Prefecture: Fujio Takeuchi
* Ishikawa Prefecture: Yōichi Nakanishi
* Iwate Prefecture: Iwao Kudō
* Kagawa Prefecture: Jōichi Hirai
* Kagoshima Prefecture: Yoshiteru Tsuchiya
* Kanagawa Prefecture: Kazuji Nagasu
* Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto
* Kumamoto Prefecture: Joji Fukushima
* Kyoto Prefecture: Teiichi Aramaki
* Mie Prefecture: Ryōzō Tagawa
* Miyagi Prefecture: Shuntarō Honma
* Miyazaki Prefecture: Suketaka Matsukata
* Nagano Prefecture: Gorō Yoshimura
* Nagasaki Prefecture: Isamu Takada
* Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto
* Niigata Prefecture: Kiyoshi Kaneko (until 9 September); Ikuo Hirayama (starting 25 October)
* Oita Prefecture: Morihiko Hiramatsu
* Okayama Prefecture: Shiro Nagano
* Okinawa Prefecture: Masahide Ōta
* Osaka Prefecture: Kazuo Nakagawa
* Saga Prefecture: Isamu Imoto
* Saitama Prefecture: Yawara Hata (until 12 July); Yoshihiko Tsuchiya (starting 12 July)
* Shiga Prefecture: Minoru Inaba
* Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita
* Shizuoka Prefecture: Shigeyoshi Saitō
* Tochigi Prefecture: Fumio Watanabe
* Tokushima Prefecture: Shinzo Miki
* Tokyo: Shun'ichi Suzuki
* Tottori Prefecture: Yuji Nishio
* Toyama Prefecture: Yutaka Nakaoki
* Wakayama Prefecture: Shirō Kariya
* Yamagata Prefecture: Seiichirō Itagaki
* Yamaguchi Prefecture: Toru Hirai
* Yamanashi Prefecture: Ken Amano

## Events

* January 8: US President George H. W. Bush vomits in Prime Minister Miyazawa's lap during a state dinner.
* January 12: According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a settlement ship Fukujin-maru, carrying 46 passengers and crew, capsizes off Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, 37 persons were rescued, 9 persons were their lost to lives.
* January 13: Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
* March 7: Sailor Moon began broadcasting on TV Asahi.
* March 14: Nozomi services begin on the Tokaido Shinkansen.
* March 25: Huis ten Bosch opens in Nagasaki Prefecture.
* April 1
** Chiba City is divided into wards.
** Taiyo Kobe Mitsui Bank renames itself to Sakura Bank.
* April 27: Kirby's Dream Land, the first video game in the Kirby series by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory and the debut of Kirby himself, is released.
* May 2: Civil servants are granted a two-day weekend for the first time.
* May 22: Japan New Party founded.
* July 1: Yamagata Shinkansen opens.
* July 26: In Upper House elections, the LDP holds on to a slim coalition majority.
* October 14: Liberal Democratic Party member Shin Kanemaru resigns over the receipt of illegal payments from Sagawa Express.
* October 23: Emperor Akihito visits the People's Republic of China for the first time.
* October 29–November 8: Finals of the 1992 AFC Asian Cup held in Japan. The Japan national football team defeat the defending champions, Saudi Arabia, in the final in Hiroshima.

## Births

* January 6: Hiroya, kickboxer
* January 12: Mao Kobayashi, idol
* February 1: Mao Ichimichi, actress
* February 7: Maimi Yajima, singer
* February 26: Ai Shinozaki, gravure idol and singer
* March 6: Momoko Tsugunaga, singer
* March 11: Nao Tōyama, voice actress and singer
* March 21: Erena Mizusawa, model and actress
* March 25: Machico, singer and voice actress
* March 27: Aoi Yūki, voice actress
* April 13: Daichi Hashimoto, professional wrestler
* April 25: Kyosuke Ikeda, actor and voice actor
* May 1: You Kikkawa, singer
* May 22: Chinami Tokunaga, J-pop singer
* May 28: Gaku Shibasaki, footballer
* June 27: Tsubasa Honda, actress and model
* July 3: Maasa Sudo, singer
* July 12: Anna Ishibashi, model and actress
* July 15:
** Hokutōfuji Daiki, sumo wrestler
** Koharu Kusumi, J-pop singer, voice actress, and model
* July 16: Tetsuto Yamada, baseball player
* August 5: Yasutaka Uchiyama, tennis player
* August 6: Saori Ōnishi, voice actress
* August 10: Ari Ozawa, voice actress
* August 16: Zawachin, model
* August 18: Riko Narumi, actress and model
* August 20: Mai Shiraishi, idol singer and model
* August 23: Yuka Kono, figure skater
* August 25: Miyabi Natsuyaki, singer
* August 27
** Ayame Goriki, actress, singer and model
** Sayuri Matsumura, idol singer, model
* September 3: Sachie Ishizu, tennis player
* September 7: Suzuka Morita, model and actress
* September 28: Koko Tsurumi, artistic gymnast
* October 2: Yasuaki Yamasaki, professional baseball player
* October 3: Aina Hashimoto, singer, actress and voice actress
* October 4: Shun Miyazato, actor and voice actor
* October 5: Hirotaka Chiba, actor and voice actor
* October 19: Shiho, actress and model
* October 27: Taiko Katono, actor and model
* November 5: Takuya Kai, baseball player
* November 15: Minami Minegishi, singer and actress
* November 20: Maiha Ishimura, singer
* November 25: Haru Nomura, golfer
* December 8: Yui Yokoyama, singer and actress
* December 14: Ryo Miyaichi, footballer
* December 20: Shuta Tonosaki, professional baseball player
* December 22: Shiori Kutsuna, actress and idol

## Deaths

* April 25: Yutaka Ozaki, songwriter and rock star (b. 1965)
* May 11: Taku Izumi, composer (b. 1930)
* May 22: Lee Yangji, author (b. 1955)
* May 24: Hitoshi Ogawa, racing car driver (b. 1956)
* May 27: Machiko Hasegawa, illustrator (b. 1920)
* May 29: Yoshitoshi Mori, artist (b. 1898)
* June 8: Sakae Ōba, officer of the Imperial Japanese Army (b. 1914)
* June 10: Hachidai Nakamura, composer (b. 1931)
* July 5: Toshirō Oumi, singer, composer (b. 1918)
* August 4: Seicho Matsumoto, author (b. 1909)
* August 12: Kenji Nakagami, author (b. 1946)
* September 5: Yasuji Mori, animator (b. 1925)
* September 25: Kazuko Matsuo, singer (b. 1935)

## Statistics

* Yen value: US$1 = ¥111.85 (December 31)