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.[:ja:伊豆大島近海地震] (Japanese language edition) Retributed date on 3 February 2020. 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 skyscraper in Asia (Japan), until 63 Building in Seoul, South Korea on July 27, 1985. 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. 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 3 – Yamato Kochi, actor 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 3 – Prince Kaya Tsunenori (b. 1900) 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)
See also 1978 in Japanese television List of Japanese films of 1978 1978 in Japanese music
References