Events in the year 1944 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 19 (昭和19年) in the Japanese calendar.
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 January 7 - Kotaro Suzumura, economist and professor emeritus of Hitotsubashi University and Waseda University (d. 2020) January 14 - Makiko Tanaka, politician January 20 - Isao Okano, retired judoka player January 25 - Seigō Matsuoka, writer (d. 2024) January 28 - Koji Wada, actor (d. 1986) February 8 - Isao Shibata, former professional baseball player April 5 - Hiroyuki Hosoda, politician (d. 2023)Former Lower House speaker and LDP heavyweight Hiroyuki Hosoda dies April 7 - Makoto Kobayashi, Nobel Prize-winning physicist April 16 - Shoji Tabuchi, fiddler May 5 - Hiroaki Inoue, baseball player (d. 2025) May 22 - Nakamura Kichiemon II, actor, kabuki performer, and costume designer (d. 2021) May 29 - Masaki Sakurai, guitar maker (d. 2025) July 8 - Hironobu Takesaki, former Chief Justice of Japan July 15 - Ken Kagaya, painter and writer (d. 2003) August 30 - Yumiko Nogawa, actress September 12 - Yoshio Kikugawa, football player October 4 - Aki Kuroda, artist October 17 - Nobutaka Machimura, politician (d. 2015)
Unknown date Tōsha Rosen VI, percussionist in traditional Japanese theatre and dance Tsūzen Nakajima, print artist
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