1931 in Japan

1931 in Japan
Events in the year 1931 in Japan.
Incumbents
Emperor: Hirohito
Prime Minister:
Osachi Hamaguchi: until April 14
Wakatsuki Reijirō: April 14 – December 13
Inukai Tsuyoshi: from December 13
Governors
Aichi Prefecture:
starting 20 January: Masao Oka
20 January-21 December: Kosaka Masayasu
until 21 December: Yujiro Osaki
Akita Prefecture: Koki Hiegata (until 18 December); Takeshi Uchida (starting 18 December)
Aomori Prefecture: Migaku Moriya (until 18 December); Teizaburo Miyamoto (starting 18 December)
Ehime Prefecture: Koichiro Sasai (until 18 December); Kume Shigeo (starting 18 December)
Fukui Prefecture: Tachibana Saitanao (until 18 December); Keizo Ichimura (starting 18 December)
Fukushima Prefecture:
until 15 April: Koyanagi Makimamoru
15 April-18 December: Goro Kawasaki
starting 18 December: Murai Hachiro
Gifu Prefecture:
until 8 May: Ken Usawa
8 May-18 December: Yoshida Katsutaro
starting 18 December: Takehiko Ito
Gunma Prefecture:
until 27 June: Hotta Kanae
27 June-18 December: Kiichi Harata
starting 18 December: Masao Kanazawa
Hiroshima Prefecture:
until 8 May: Hiroshi Kawabuchi
8 May-18 December: Takekai Shirane
starting 18 December: Ryo Chiba
Ibaraki Prefecture:
until 27 June: Shozo Ushijima
27 June-18 December: Tanaka
starting 18 December: Seikichi Kimishima
Ishikawa Prefecture: Nakano Kunikazu (until month unknown)
Iwate Prefecture: Toyoshiro Kubo (until 18 December); Hidehiko Ishiguro (starting 18 December)
Kagawa Prefecture:
until 27 June: Susumu Tsuboi
27 June-18 December: Yusai Takahashi
starting 18 December: Akira Ito
Kanagawa Prefecture: Jiro Yamagata (until month unknown)
Kochi Prefecture:
until 27 June: Tanaka
27 June-18 December: Tsuboi
starting 18 December: Kodora Akamatsu
Kumamoto Prefecture: Bunpei Motoyama (until 18 December); Kenichi Yamashita (starting 18 December)
Kyoto Prefecture:
until October: Sasaki Shinichi
October-December: Shinya Kurosaki
starting December: Sukenari Yokoyama
Mie Prefecture: Keizo Ichimura (until 18 December); Hirose Hisatada (starting 18 December)
Miyagi Prefecture: Michio Yuzawa
Miyazaki Prefecture:
until 18 December: Ariyoshi
18 December-21 December: Kiyoshi Nakarai
starting 21 December: Gisuke Kinoshita
Nagano Prefecture: Shintaro Suzuki (until 18 December); Ishigaki Kuraji (starting 18 December)
Niigata Prefecture:
until 2 October: Toyoji Obata
2 October-18 December: Nakano Kunikazu
starting 18 December: Obata Toyoji
Okinawa Prefecture: Jiro Ino
Osaka Prefecture: Saito Munenori (starting month unknown)
Saga Prefecture:
until 18 December: Inoue
20 January-18 December: Nakarai Kiyoshi
starting 18 December: Saburo Hayakawa
Saitama Prefecture:
until 15 April: Niwa Shichiro
15 April-18 December: Kozo Yamanaka
starting 18 December: Umekichi Miyawaki
Shiname Prefecture:
until 21 August: Keiichi Omori
21 August-18 December: Kanichi Misawa
starting 18 December: Rinsaku Yagi
Tochigi Prefecture:
until 27 January: Harada
20 January-27 December: Asari Saburo
starting 27 December: Chokichi Toshima
Tokyo: Torataro Shizuka (until 18 October); Hasegawa Hisakazu (starting 18 October)
Toyama Prefecture: Kozo Yamanaka (until 15 April); Keiichi Suzuki (starting 15 April)
Yamagata Prefecture:
until 24 October: Kubota Osamu Kosuke
24 October-18 December: Ken Yamaguchi
starting 18 December: Sada Kawamura
Events
March - March Incident
March 27 – A real estate brand, Shōei Corporation was founded, as predecessor for Hullic.
June 5 – 1931 Empress of Canada stabbings: A man killed 2 and wounded 29 others with a knife aboard the Canadian Pacific Steamships liner RMS Empress of Canada as the ship sailed off Japan.
June 27 - Nakamura Incident
July 1 - Wanpaoshan Incident
September 21 – A Richer Scale magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit in Yorii, Saitama Prefecture. According to Japanese government official confirmed report, killing 16 persons, 146 persons were wounded.
October 21 - October Incident
November 4 - Resistance at Nenjiang Bridge
November 4–18 - Jiangqiao Campaign
Unknown date
Teikyo Commerce School, later Teikyo University was founded in Tokyo.
A time recorder and robot brand, Amano was founded in Yokohama, as predecessor name of Amano Manufacturing.
A mail order cram school, Jitsuryoku-Zōshinsha (Ability Promotion), as predecessor of Zōshinsha Holdings (Z-kai) was founded.
Films
Tokyo Chorus
Births
January–March
January 2 – Toshiki Kaifu, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2022)
January 6 – Kaoru Yachigusa, actress (d. 2019)
January 20 – Ariyoshi Sawako, writer (d. 1984)
January 21 – Yoshiko Kuga, actress
January 28 – Sakyo Komatsu, science fiction writer (d. 2011)
February 16 – Ken Takakura, actor (d. 2014)
March 7 – Atsuko, Princess Yori, fourth daughter of Emperor Shōwa
March 9 – Masahiro Shinoda, film director
April–June
April 11 – Koichi Sugiyama, composer and conductor (d. 2021)
May 10 – Ichirō Nagai, voice actor (d. 2014)
June 22 – Teruyuki Okazaki, black belt in Shotokan Karate (d. 2020)
July–September
July 5 – Ryuzo Sato, economist
July 11 – Yasuo Ōtsuka, animator (d. 2021)
August 29 – Ichikawa Raizō VIII, actor (d. 1969)
August 30 – Jōji Yanami, voice actor
September 17 – Ayako Sono, writer (d. 2021)
September 21 – Syukuro Manabe, Japanese-American meteorologist and climatologist
October–December
October 24 – Ken Utsui, actor (d. 2014)
November 29 – Shintaro Katsu, actor (d. 1997)
December 5 – Kyōko Kagawa, actress
December 11 – Fujiko Yamamoto, actress
December 15 – Shuntarō Tanikawa, poet and translator
December 19 – Reiko Sato, actress and dancer (d. 1981)
December 31 – Sakata Tōjūrō IV, kabuki actor (d. 2020)
Full date unknown
Miyozo Yamazaki, amateur archaeologist
Deaths
January 27 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Sumo wrestler, 25th yokozuna (b. 1880)
June 13 – Kitasato Shibasaburō, physician and bacteriologist (b. 1853)
June 26 – Yamakawa Kenjirō, physicist, university president (b. 1854)
August 2 – Kinue Hitomi, sprinter and long jumper (b. 1907)
August 26 – Osachi Hamaguchi, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1870)
September 2 – Ichinohe Hyoe, general (b. 1855)
November 11 – Shibusawa Eiichi, industrialist (b. 1840)
See also
1931 in Japanese football
List of Japanese films of the 1930s
References
1930s in Japan
Japan
Years of the 20th century in Japan
1931 in Asia