Events in the year 1964 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 39 (昭和39年) in the Japanese calendar.
1964 is considered a seminal year in modern Japanese history. The Tokyo Summer Olympic Games and the first run of bullet train reflected a society-wide sense that post-war reconstruction was over and that Japan had rejoined the international family of nations. Diplomatic negotiations underway this year between South Korea and Japan resulted in a formal normalization of relations the following year.
Incumbents Emperor: Hirohito Prime Minister: Hayato Ikeda (L–Hiroshima, 3rd term) until November 9, Eisaku Satō (L–Yamaguchi) Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yasumi Kurogane (L–Yamagata) until July 18, Zenkō Suzuki (L–Iwate) until November 9, Tomisaburō Hashimoto (L–Ibaraki) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kisaburō Yokota President of the House of Representatives: Naka Funada (L–Tochigi) President of the House of Councillors: Yūzō Shigemune (L–national) Diet sessions: 46th (regular session opened in December 1963, to June 26), 47th (extraordinary, November 9 to December 18), 48th (regular, December 21 to 1965, June 1)
Governors Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata Aomori Prefecture: Shunkichi Takeuchi Chiba Prefecture: Taketo Tomonō Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu Fukui Prefecture: Eizō Kita Fukuoka Prefecture: Taichi Uzaki Fukushima Prefecture: Zenichiro Satō (until 23 March); Morie Kimura (starting 16 May) Gifu Prefecture: Yukiyasu Matsuno Gunma Prefecture: Konroku Kanda Hiroshima Prefecture: Iduo Nagano Hokkaido: Kingo Machimura Hyogo Prefecture: Motohiko Kanai Ibaraki Prefecture: Nirō Iwakami Ishikawa Prefecture: Yōichi Nakanishi Iwate Prefecture: Tadashi Chida Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama Kochi Prefecture: Masumi Mizobuchi Kumamoto Prefecture: Kōsaku Teramoto Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa Mie Prefecture: Satoru Tanaka Miyagi Prefecture: Yoshio Miura Miyazaki Prefecture: Hiroshi Kuroki Nagano Prefecture: Gon'ichirō Nishizawa Nagasaki Prefecture: Katsuya Sato Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda Niigata Prefecture: Juichiro Tsukada Oita Prefecture: Kaoru Kinoshita Okayama Prefecture: Yukiharu Miki (until 21 September); Takenori Kato (starting 15 November) Osaka Prefecture: Gisen Satō Saga Prefecture: Sunao Ikeda Saitama Prefecture: Hiroshi Kurihara Shiga Prefecture: Kyujiro Taniguchi Shiname Prefecture: Choemon Tanabe Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō Tochigi Prefecture: Nobuo Yokokawa Tokushima Prefecture: Kikutaro Hara Tokyo: Ryōtarō Azuma Tottori Prefecture: Jirō Ishiba Toyama Prefecture: Minoru Yoshida Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono Yamagata Prefecture: Tōkichi Abiko Yamaguchi Prefecture: Masayuki Hashimoto Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano
Events
March 18: Hayakawa Electric (the predecessor of today's Sharp) and Sony announce that they have completed a prototype electronic calculator using Japanese-manufactured diodes and transistors. March 24: U.S. ambassador Edwin Reischauer is stabbed by a Japanese youth. April 1: Japanese citizens are permitted to freely travel overseas. April 12: Channel 12, the predecessor of TV Tokyo, begins operations. April 17 – Orient Lease, as predecessor of Orix Group founded in Osaka. April 29 - The Keiō Dōbutsuen Line opens. June 16: An earthquake in Niigata Prefecture kills 12. July 14: According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, a Katsushima Warehouse caught fire and explode in Shinagawa, Tokyo, total 19 person were human fatalities and 117 persons were wounded. July 18: A heavy rain, following devastate flood and landslide in Shimane and Tottori Prefecture, at least 128 people lives. August 18 – The International Olympic Committee bans South Africa from the Tokyo Olympics on the grounds that its teams are racially segregated. September 17: The Tokyo Monorail begins operations. October 1: The Tōkaidō Shinkansen begins operations. October 10–24: 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo. Judo introduced for the first time as an Olympic Game. October 25: Ikeda Hayato resigns as prime minister; Eisaku Satō is elected to replace him. November 9: Sato announces his first cabinet. November 17: The political party Komeito is formed. December 23: Tokyo Metro Tōzai Line was opened.
Births January 1: Akemi Masuda, athlete January 4: Riki Takeuchi, actor January 25: Seiko Senou, actor of 1987 Metal Hero Series Choujinki Metalder. March 8: Hiroshi Tsuburaya, actor of 1984 Space Sheriff Series Uchuu Keiji Shaider (d. 2001). March 9: Tomomitsu Niimi, criminal (d. 2018) March 12: Kaori Ekuni, author March 18: Mika Kanai, voice actress and singer Yoko Kanno, pianist and songwriter April 23: Rie Ishizuka, voice actress April 30: Misa Watanabe, voice actress May 5: Minami Takayama, singer and voice actress May 6: Daisuke Araki, former professional baseball player May 31: Yukio Edano, politician June 12: Takashi Yamazaki, filmmaker June 22: Hiroshi Abe, model and actor June 23: Tomonohana Shinya, sumo wrestler and coach July 3: Toshiharu Sakurai, voice actor July 7: Shinichi Tsutsumi, actor July 9: Kazumi Kawai, actress (d. 1997) July 14: Kippei Shiina, actor July 19: Masahiko Kondō, solo singer of Johnny & Associates July 24: Banana Yoshimoto, author July 25: Reiko Takashima, actress August 10: Hiro Takahashi, singer, lyricist, and composer (d. 2005) September 13: Junko Mihara, politician, former singer, and actress September 23: Koshi Inaba, singer of B'z October 5: Keiji Fujiwara, voice actor Seiko Hashimoto, ice speed skater Megumi Yokota, one of the North Korean abductee victims of the late 1970s (d. ca. 1977?) October 12: Masaru Ogawa, figure skater October 18: Etsuko Inoue, tennis player October 20: Tomoko Yamaguchi, actress October 24: Kotaro Tanaka, actor of 1991 Super Sentai Chōjin Sentai Jetman as Red Hawk/Ryu Tendou. November 4: Yūko Mizutani, voice actress (d. 2016) December 13: hide, musician (d. 1998) December 15: Norihisa Tamura, politician December 23: Kazuhiro Koshi, skeleton racer December 28: Kaori Yamaguchi, judoka
Deaths February 8: Boshirō Hosogaya, admiral (b. 1888) February 17: Chūichi Hara, admiral (b. 1889) April 5: Tatsuji Miyoshi, poet, literary critic, and editor (b. 1900) May 5: Tadao Ikeda, director and screenwriter (b. 1905) May 6: Haruo Satō, novelist and poet (b. 1892) May 8: Kichisaburo Nomura, politician and military leader (b. 1877) August 17: Keiji Sada, actor (b. 1926) November 29: Ryūsaku Tsunoda, educator and historian (b. 1877)
Statistics Yen value: US$1 = ¥360 (fixed)
See also 1964 in Japanese television List of Japanese films of 1964 1964 in Japanese music
References