1980 in Japan

1980 in Japan
Events in the year 1980 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 55 (昭和55年) in the Japanese calendar.
Incumbents
Emperor: Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa)
Prime Minister:
Masayoshi Ōhira (L–Kagawa), until June 12
Zenkō Suzuki (L–Iwate), from July 17
Chief Cabinet Secretary and acting Prime Minister from June 12 to July 17: Masayoshi Itō (L–Fukushima) until July 17, Kiichi Miyazawa (L–Hiroshima)
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Takaaki Hattori
President of the House of Representatives: Hirokichi Nadao (L–Hiroshima) until May 19, Hajime Fukuda (L–Fukui) from July 17
President of the House of Councillors: Ken Yasui (L–Tokyo) until July 7, Masatoshi Tokunaga (L–national) from July 17
Diet sessions: 91st (regular session opened in December 1979, to May 19), 92nd (special, July 17 to July 26), 93rd (extraordinary, September 29 to November 29), 94th (regular, December 22 to 1981, June 6)
Governors
Aichi Prefecture: Yoshiaki Nakaya
Akita Prefecture: Kikuji Sasaki
Aomori Prefecture: Masaya Kitamura
Chiba Prefecture: Kiichi Kawakami
Ehime Prefecture: Haruki Shiraishi
Fukui Prefecture: Heidayū Nakagawa
Fukuoka Prefecture: Hikaru Kamei
Fukushima Prefecture: Isao Matsudaira
Gifu Prefecture: Yosuke Uematsu
Gunma Prefecture: Ichiro Shimizu
Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroshi Miyazawa
Hokkaido: Naohiro Dōgakinai
Hyogo Prefecture: Tokitada Sakai
Ibaraki Prefecture: Fujio Takeuchi
Ishikawa Prefecture: Yōichi Nakanishi
Iwate Prefecture:
Kagawa Prefecture: Tadao Maekawa
Kagoshima Prefecture: Kaname Kamada
Kanagawa Prefecture: Kazuji Nagasu
Kochi Prefecture: Chikara Nakauchi
Kumamoto Prefecture: Issei Sawada
Kyoto Prefecture: Yukio Hayashida
Mie Prefecture: Ryōzō Tagawa
Miyagi Prefecture: Sōichirō Yamamoto
Miyazaki Prefecture: Suketaka Matsukata
Nagano Prefecture: Gon'ichirō Nishizawa (until 11 September); Gorō Yoshimura (starting 26 October)
Nagasaki Prefecture: Kan'ichi Kubo
Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda (until 30 September); Shigekiyo Ueda (starting 26 October)
Niigata Prefecture: Takeo Kimi
Oita Prefecture: Morihiko Hiramatsu
Okayama Prefecture: Shiro Nagano
Okinawa Prefecture: Junji Nishime
Osaka Prefecture: Sakae Kishi
Saga Prefecture: Kumao Katsuki
Saitama Prefecture: Yawara Hata
Shiga Prefecture: Masayoshi Takemura
Shiname Prefecture: Seiji Tsunematsu
Shizuoka Prefecture: Keizaburō Yamamoto
Tochigi Prefecture: Yuzuru Funada
Tokushima Prefecture: Yasunobu Takeichi
Tokyo: Shun'ichi Suzuki
Tottori Prefecture: Kōzō Hirabayashi
Toyama Prefecture: Kokichi Nakada (until 18 September); Yutaka Nakaoki (starting 8 November)
Wakayama Prefecture: Shirō Kariya
Yamagata Prefecture: Seiichirō Itagaki
Yamaguchi Prefecture: Toru Hirai
Yamanashi Prefecture: Kōmei Mochizuki
Events
January 6 – According to Japan National Police Agency official confirmed report, Hayakawa wire bridge collapse by human stampede in Saito, Miyazaki Prefecture, seven persons were crush to death, 15 persons were wounded.
January 16 - Paul McCartney is arrested at Narita airport for possession of drugs.
April Unknown date – Fancl Cosmetics, as predecessor of FANCL was founded.
April 24 - Nintendo releases the first portable game console, the Game&Watch.
June 22
1980 Japanese general election
1980 Japanese House of Councillors election
August 14 - A rock fall hit mountaineers in Mount Fuji, Yamanashi Prefecture, according to official results report, 12 fatalities, with 29 injured.
August 16 - A gas explosion occurs in the underground shopping area of Shizuoka Station, killing 200.
August 19 - 1980 Shinjuku bus fire, according to official confirmed report, 6 person fatalities with 15 were wounded.
November 19 - A fire at the Kawaji Prince Hotel in Fujihara, Tochigi Prefecture kills 40.
Popular culture
Arts and entertainment
In film, Zigeunerweisen by Seijun Suzuki won the Best film award at the Japan Academy Prize and the Yokohama Film Festival, Kagemusha by Akira Kurosawa won Best film at the Hochi Film Awards, the Blue Ribbon Awards and the Mainichi Film Award. For a list of Japanese films released in 1980 see Japanese films of 1980.
In manga, the winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award were Hakatakko Junjō and Gangaragan by Hōsei Hasegawa and Chie the Brat by Etsumi Haruki (general) and Urusei Yatsura by Rumiko Takahashi (shōnen or shōjo). Susano Oh by Go Nagai (shōnen) and Lemon Report by Mayumi Yoshida (shōjo) won the Kodansha Manga Award. For a list of manga released in 1980 see :Category:1980 manga.
In music, the 31st Kōhaku Uta Gassen was won by the Red Team (women). Hiroshi Itsuki won the FNS Music Festival.
In television, see: 1980 in Japanese television.
Japan hosted the Miss International 1980 beauty pageant, won by Costa Rican Lorna Chávez.
Sports
In football (soccer) Yanmar Diesel won the Japan Soccer League. For the champions of the regional leagues see: 1980 Japanese Regional Leagues. For more see: 1980 in Japanese football.
At the Winter Olympics Japan won a silver medal.
Births
January–June
January 6: Hiromi Oshima, model
January 13: Akira Kaji, football player
January 14:
Hiroshi Tamaki, actor, model and singer
Sosuke Sumitani, announcer
Yūko Kaida, voice actress
January 21: Nana Mizuki, voice actress and singer
January 23: Nana Natsume, AV idol and celebrity
January 26: Sanae Kobayashi, voice actress and singer
February 4: Kenta Kiritani, actor and singer
February 6: Mamiko Noto, voice actress and singer
February 17: Aya Endō, voice actress
February 20: Yuichi Nakamura, voice actor
February 21: Kayoko Shibata, actress
March 8: Kazuyuki Okitsu, voice actor
March 31: Maaya Sakamoto, voice actress and singer
April 1: Yūko Takeuchi, actress (d. 2020)
April 2: Yuya Shirai, mixed martial artist
April 3: Yūko Ishibashi, singer
April 7: Mr. C.B., thoroughbred racehorse (d. 2002)
April 14: Ayumi Ito, actress
April 15: Futoshi Uehara, musician
April 21: Hiro Shimono, voice actor
April 25: Juri Miyazawa, actress and gravure idol
May 9: Norihiro Nishi, footballer
May 10: Mayumi Kawasaki, race walker
May 20: Chinatsu Mori, shot putter (d. 2006)
May 22: Rena Tanaka, actress
May 31:
Mika Katsumura, actress
Akitoshi Tamura, mixed martial artist
June 1: Mitsuru Chiyotanda, football player
June 2: Shingo Suetsugu, sprinter
June 3: Keiji Suzuki, judoka
June 9: Kana Ueda, voice actress
June 17: Kimeru, singer
June 25: Nozomi Takeuchi, actress
June 27: Takahiro Futagawa, football player
July –December
July 15
Masayuki Hirahara, pianist and composer
BxB Hulk, professional wrestler
July 17: Masato Yoshino, professional wrestler
July 18: Ryōko Hirosue, actress and pop star
July 22: Hisashi Mizutori, gymnast
July 28: Harumi Nemoto, gravure idol
July 30: Ayako Uehara, classical pianist
July 31: Rina Aiuchi, singer
August 1: Yoichi Mori, football player
August 14: Yusuke Kawaguchi, mixed martial artist
August 29: Daisuke Saito, football player
September 4: Hitomi Shimatani, pop singer
September 8: Mai Kadowaki, voice actress
September 13: Daisuke Matsuzaka, baseball player
September 19: Jun Natsukawa, gravure idol
September 27: Asashōryū Akinori, sumo wrestler.
September 30: Arisa Ogasawara, voice actress
October 11: Tomokazu Sugita, voice actor
October 13: Salyu, singer
October 16: Takehito Shigehara, football player
October 30: Chihiro Onitsuka, singer-songwriter
November 4: Kanako Naito, volleyball player (d. 2019)
November 18: Junichi Okada, singer, actor
November 21: Hiroyuki Tomita, gymnast
November 26: Satoshi Ohno, singer, actor
December 5: Shizuka Itō, voice actress
December 6: Kei Yasuda, singer, musician and actress
December 13: Satoshi Tsumabuki, actor
December 16: Daito Takahashi, Nordic combined skier
December 23: Ayako Ito, announcer
Deaths
January 4: Shohachi Ishii, wrestler
January 23: Shōjirō Iida, general
February 14: Kitsuju Ayabe, general
February 22: Sadaaki Akamatsu, officer and ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy
February 27: Shin'ichi Hisamatsu, philosopher
March 16: Susumu Kimura, admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy
May 8: Chieko Higashiyama, film actress (b. 1890)
May 21: Hiroshi Inagaki, filmmaker
June 12: Masayoshi Ōhira, Prime Minister (died in office) (b. 1910)
October 10: Tameichi Hara, Imperial Japanese naval commander
October 21: Kanjūrō Arashi, actor
November 2: Yamakawa Kikue, activist, writer, socialist, and feminist (b. 1890)
November 30: Mieko Fukui, basketball player (b. 1956)
December 28: Nobuzo Tohmatsu, admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy
See also
1980 in Japanese television
List of Japanese films of 1980
References
1980s in Japan
Years of the 20th century in Japan
Japan
1980 in Asia