1978 in Japan

Decades:	1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s;
See also:	Other events of 1978; History of Japan • Timeline • Years

Events in the year 1978 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 53 (昭和53年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

Emperor: Hirohito^[1]
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.^[2]
March 26 - Protesters destroy much of equipment in the control tower of Narita Airport with Molotov cocktails, set to open in just four days.
April 6 – Sunshine 60 has officially open in Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, the tallest sky craper in Asia (Japan), until 63 Building in Seoul, South Korea on July 27, 1985.^{[citation needed]}
May 20, 1978 - Narita International Airport opened
June 2 - Japan Air Lines Flight 115 suffered a tailstrike while landing at Osaka International Airport.
June 12 - A large 7.7 magnitude earthquake hits offshore Miyagi Prefecture and causes 28 deaths and 1,325 injuries.^[3]
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.^[4]
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

Ayumi Hamasaki

Manami Konishi

Ringo Sheena

July 3 – Mizuki Noguchi, long-distance runner^[5]
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)
February 7 – Keizō Komura, admiral (b. 1896)
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)

References

^ "Hirohito | Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
^ [:ja:伊豆大島近海地震] (Japanese language edition) Retributed date on 3 February 2020.
^ "Significant Earthquakes of the World". Earthquake.usgs.gov. 2010-01-05. Archived from the original on 2010-01-23. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
^ "日本歴史地名大系：JapanKnowledge Select Series". Rekishi.jkn21.com. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
^ "Mizuki NOGUCHI | Profile". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 28 October 2020.

[1] "Hirohito | Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.

[2] [:ja:伊豆大島近海地震] (Japanese language edition) Retributed date on 3 February 2020.

[3] "Significant Earthquakes of the World". Earthquake.usgs.gov. 2010-01-05. Archived from the original on 2010-01-23. Retrieved 2012-12-10.

[4] "日本歴史地名大系：JapanKnowledge Select Series". Rekishi.jkn21.com. Archived from the original on 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2012-12-10.

[5] "Mizuki NOGUCHI | Profile". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 28 October 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

1978 in Japan

Incumbents

Governors

Events

Births

January–June

July –December

Deaths

See also

References