1978 in Japan

1978 in Japan
Events in the year 1978 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 53 (昭和53年) in the Japanese calendar.
Incumbents
Emperor: Hirohito
Prime minister: Takeo Fukuda (Liberal Democratic) until December 7, Masayoshi Ōhira (Liberal Democratic)
Chief Cabinet Secretary: Shintaro Abe until December 7, Rokusuke Tanaka
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Masao Okahara
President of the House of Representatives: Shigeru Hori
President of the House of Councillors: Ken Yasui
Diet sessions: 84th (regular session opened in December 19, 1977, to June 16), 85th (extraordinary, September 18 to October 21), 86th (extraordinary, December 6 to December 12), 87th (regular, December 22 to June 14, 1979)
Governors
Aichi Prefecture: Yoshiaki Nakaya
Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
Aomori Prefecture: Shunkichi Takeuchi
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: Tadashi Chida
Kagawa Prefecture: Tadao Maekawa
Kagoshima Prefecture: Kaname Kamada
Kanagawa Prefecture: Kazuji Nagasu
Kochi Prefecture: Chikara Nakauchi
Kumamoto Prefecture: Issei Sawada
Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa (until 15 April); Yukio Hayashida (starting 15 April)
Mie Prefecture: Ryōzō Tagawa
Miyagi Prefecture: Sōichirō Yamamoto
Miyazaki Prefecture: Hiroshi Kuroki
Nagano Prefecture: Gon'ichirō Nishizawa
Nagasaki Prefecture: Kan'ichi Kubo
Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
Niigata Prefecture: Takeo Kimi
Oita Prefecture: Masaru Taki
Okayama Prefecture: Shiro Nagano
Okinawa Prefecture:
until 23 November: Koichi Taira
23 November-13 December: Takemori Nijima
starting 13 December: Junji Nishime
Osaka Prefecture: Ryōichi Kuroda
Saga Prefecture: Sunao Ikeda
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: Ryōkichi Minobe
Tottori Prefecture: Kōzō Hirabayashi
Toyama Prefecture: Kokichi Nakada
Wakayama Prefecture: Shirō Kariya
Yamagata Prefecture: Seiichirō Itagaki
Yamaguchi Prefecture: Toru Hirai
Yamanashi Prefecture: Kunio Tanabe
Events
January 14 - According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency confirmed report, total of 25 people were dead, 211 people were wounded, a Richer Scale 6.7 earthquake and aftershocks damaged in Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture.
March 26 - Protesters destroy much of equipment in the control tower of Narita Airport with Molotov cocktails, set to open in just four days.
May 20, 1978 - Narita International Airport opened
June 12 - A large 7.7 magnitude earthquake hits offshore Miyagi Prefecture and causes 28 deaths and 1,325 injuries.
July 30, 1978 - Okinawa Prefecture changed driving on the Right-hand traffic to Left-hand traffic(730)
August 12 - The Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China is concluded.
December 16 - The Mystery of Mamo is released in cinemas.
Births
January–June
January 2 – Toyoguchi Megumi, voice actress
January 6 –
Reina Miyauchi, J-pop singer
Ayano Tsuji, J-pop singer
January 7 – Asami Imajuku, model, actress, and singer
January 9 – Hassei Takano, actor
January 10 – Kanako Mitsuhashi, voice actress
January 11 – Kyoko Hamaguchi, freestyle wrestler
January 15 – Vanilla Yamazaki, katsudō-benshi, voice actor, an actress
January 16 – Hisanori Ōiwa, actor, stunt performer and suit actor
January 17
Takatoshi Kaneko, actor
Hiro Suzuhira, manga artist
January 24 – Tomokazu Myojin, football midfielder
January 26 – Atsuko Kurusu, actress
January 27 – Akiko Hinagata, actress and former gravure idol.
February 4 – Shingo Kawaguchi, actor
February 20 – Ken Takeuchi, voice actor
February 21 – Miki Sakai, actress and J-pop idol singer
February 23 – Yuka Motohashi, actress
February 25
Yuji Nakazawa, football player
Shintarō Tokita, musician
February 28 – Rei Kikukawa, actress, model, and television presenter
March 1
Noriyasu Agematsu, composer
Sakura Nogawa, voice actress
March 8 – Genki Sudo, mixed martial artist and a kickboxer
March 9 – Ryosuke Sawai, baseball player
March 12 – Arina Tanemura, manga artist
March 15 – Takeru Kobayashi, competitive eater
March 18
Shimotori Norio, sumo wrestler
Yoshie Takeshita, volleyball player
March 20 – Hanako Oku, singer
March 24
Takeharu Kato, baseball player
Kaori Mochida, singer
March 29 – Hirotoki Onozawa, rugby union player
April 5 – Yumie Funayama, curler
April 8 – Daigo, e singer-songwriter, actor, talent, and voice actor
April 9
Kousei Amano, actor
Takashi Ōhara, voice actor
April 14 – Kaori Muraji, classical guitarist
April 18 – Ryōta Tsuzuki, football player
April 24 – Kazunari Okayama, football player
April 26
Hiroshi Asai, musician and composer
Shinnosuke Tachibana, voice actor
April 27 – Takahiro Suzuki, baseball player
May 1 – Sachie Hara, actress and model
May 3 – Dai Tamesue, hurdler athlete
May 4 – Daisuke Ono, voice actor
May 8 – Atsushi Sato, long-distance runner
May 10 – Daisuke Yamai, basketball pitcher
May 11 – Ushiomaru Motoyasu, sumo wrestler (d. 2019)
October 2 – Ayumi Hamasaki, singer, songwriter, actress and model
May 12 – Masahiro Abe, baseball player
May 13 – Junji Majima, voice actor
May 15
Kōsei Inoue, Judoka
Hideki Sahara, football player
May 17 – Norihiro Yamagishi, football player
May 18 – Toru Yano, wrestler
May 23 – Hideaki Kitajima, football player
June 1 – Ayako Ikeda, singer-songwriter
June 2 – Junko Yaginuma, announcer and model
June 5
Yuka Inokuchi, voice actress
Takayuki Kondō, voice actor
Taro Suruga, musician
June 12 – Yumiko Shaku, actress and model
June 13 – Mikako Ichikawa, actress and model
June 17 – Kumiko Asō, actress
June 24 – Shunsuke Nakamura, football player
June 25 – Miki Nakao, backstroke swimmer
July –December
July 3 – Mizuki Noguchi, long-distance runner
July 4 – Yusuke Murata manga artist
July 7
Kayo Kitada, judoka
Misia, singer, songwriter, and record producer
July 9 – Osamu Hamanaka, baseball player
July 10 – Kotaro Koizumi, actor
July 12 – Yoshihito Ishii, baseball player
July 19 – Atsushi Harada, actor
July 21 – Kyoko Iwasaki, swimmer
July 22 – Kyōko Hasegawa, actress and model
July 23 – Takashi Yamamoto, swimmer
July 24 – Sayo Aizawa, model
July 28 – Hitomi Yaida, pop/folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
August 4 – Satoshi Hino, voice actor
August 8
Natsuko Kuwatani, voice actress
Miho Shiraishi, actress
August 12
Toru Kurihara, rugby union player
Kakizoe Tōru, sumo wrestler
August 24 – Kentaro Sekimoto, baseball player
September 6
Homare Sawa, football player
Keigo Yamashita, Go player
September 18 – Kaoru Mori, manga artist
October 2 – Ayumi Hamasaki, recording artist, actress, model, and entrepreneur
October 18
Kotomi Kyono, actress
Minoru Shiraishi, voice actor
October 20 – Nora Hirano, comedian
October 21 – Mariko Ooe, newsroom announcer
October 25 – Maria Takagi, actress
October 25 – An Yong-hak, North Korean, football manager
October 27 – Manami Konishi, rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actress
October 31 – Mika Sugisaki, announcer, radio personality, entertainer, and actress
November 3 – Koshiro Take, jockey
November 4 – Akiko Abe, announcer and actress
November 7 – Tomoya Nagase, singer and actor
November 8 – Kensaku Kishida, actor
November 10 – Akemi Kanda, voice actress
November 25
Ayumi Ogasawara, curler
Ringo Sheena, singer, songwriter and musician
November 26 – Fukuyama Jun voice actor
November 28 – Tomohiro Nagatsuka cyclist
December 5 – Michinao Yamamura, baseball player
December 7 – Yasue Sato, actress and model
December 9 – Chihiro Kusaka, voice actress
December 12 – Hiroki Konno, comedian
December 23 – Akiko Yada, actress
December 25 – Miyuki Takahashi, volleyball player
December 26 – Kaoru Sugayama, volleyball player
December 29 – Noriko Aoyama, actress and former model
Deaths
January 5 – Shōji Hamada, potter (b. 1894)
March 1 – Kiyoshi Oka, mathematician (b. 1901)
March 5 – Toshiko Higashikuni, daughter of Emperor Meiji (b. 1896)
April 29 – Yukihiko Yasuda, painter (b. 1884)
May 15 – Kiku Amino, author and translator (b. 1900)
May 30 – Tetsu Katayama, politician and 33rd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1887)
June 6 – Katué Kitasono, poet and photographer (b. 1902)
July 10 – Takashi Suzuki, politician (b. 1882)
July 25 – Masao Koga, composer (b. 1904)
August 1 – Kōgorō Uemura, businessman (b. 1892)
September 9 – Kaoru Abe, saxophonist (b. 1949)
See also
1978 in Japanese television
List of Japanese films of 1978
References
Years of the 20th century in Japan
Japan
1970s in Japan
1978 in Asia