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:  (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 16 - Shoji Tabuchi
July 8 - Hironobu Takesaki
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)

See also
 List of Japanese films of the 1940s

References

 
1940s in Japan
Japan
Years of the 20th century in Japan
1944 in Asia