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Decades:	1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s;
See also:	Other events of 1979; History of Japan • Timeline • Years

Events in the year 1979 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 54 (昭和54年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

Emperor: Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa)^[1]
Prime Minister: Masayoshi Ōhira (L–Kagawa, 2nd term from November 9)
Chief Cabinet Secretary: Rokusuke Tanaka (L–Fukuoka) until November 9, Masayoshi Itō (L–Fukushima)
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Masao Okahara until March 31, Takaaki Hattori from April 2
President of the House of Representatives: Shigeru Hori (L–Saga) until February 1, Hirokichi Nadao (L–Hiroshima) until September 7 and again from October 30
President of the House of Councillors: Ken Yasui (L–Tokyo)
Diet sessions: 87th (regular session opened in December 1978, to May 14), 88th (extraordinary, August 30 to September 7), 89th (special, October 30 to November 16), 90th (extraordinary, November 26 to December 11), 91st (regular, December 21 to 1980, May 19)

Governors

Aichi Prefecture: Yoshiaki Nakaya
Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata (until 30 April); Kikuji Sasaki (starting 30 April)
Aomori Prefecture: Shunkichi Takeuchi (until 25 February); Masaya Kitamura (starting 26 February)
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 (until 30 April); Tadashi Nakamura [ja] (starting 30 April)
Kagawa Prefecture: Tadao Maekawa
Kagoshima Prefecture: Kaname Kamada
Kanagawa Prefecture: Kazuji Nagasu
Kochi Prefecture: Chikara Nakauchi
Kumamoto Prefecture: Issei Sawada
Kyoto Prefecture: Yukio Hayashida
Mie Prefecture: Ryōzō Tagawa
Miyagi Prefecture: Sōichirō Yamamoto
Miyazaki Prefecture: Hiroshi Kuroki (until 16 June); Suketaka Matsukata (starting 5 August)
Nagano Prefecture: Gon'ichirō Nishizawa
Nagasaki Prefecture: Kan'ichi Kubo
Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
Niigata Prefecture: Takeo Kimi
Oita Prefecture: Masaru Taki (until 27 April); Morihiko Hiramatsu (starting 28 April)
Okayama Prefecture: Shiro Nagano
Okinawa Prefecture: Junji Nishime
Osaka Prefecture: Ryōichi Kuroda (until 22 April); Sakae Kishi (starting 23 April)
Saga Prefecture: Sunao Ikeda (until 22 April); Kumao Katsuki (starting 23 April)
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 (until 22 April); Shun'ichi Suzuki (starting 23 April)
Tottori Prefecture: Kōzō Hirabayashi
Toyama Prefecture: Kokichi Nakada
Wakayama Prefecture: Shirō Kariya
Yamagata Prefecture: Seiichirō Itagaki
Yamaguchi Prefecture: Toru Hirai
Yamanashi Prefecture: Kunio Tanabe (until 16 February); Kōmei Mochizuki (starting 17 February)

Events

January 26 to 28 - According to Japan National Police Agency confirmed report, a man with a hunting gun pushed into a bank branch for 42 hours, a bank robbery who took more than 30 hostages in Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, killing two banking staff and two police officers, the suspect was shot dead by special riot police on 28 January.^[2]
February - The government is rocked by yet another bribery case: the Douglas-Grumman scandal
March 20 - According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency confirmed report, at least 16 construction workers death by Daishimizu Tunnel fire, during under construction in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture. ^{[page needed]}
June 28 – 29 – 5th G7 summit held in Tokyo.
July 1 – Sony Walkman goes on sale.
July 11 - According to Japan National Police Agency confirmed report, a vehicle caught fire; 173 vehicles burned in the Nihonzaka Road Tunnel, Tomei Expressway, Shizuoka City, total seven person were lost to fire.^[3]
October 7 – 1979 Japanese general election
October 19 – 13 US Marines die in fire at Camp Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, caused by Typhoon Tip.
November – Japan Project Industry Council (JAPIC) was found as voluntary organization. (date unknown)^[4]

Popular culture

Arts and entertainment

In film, Vengeance Is Mine by Shōhei Imamura won the Best film award at the Japan Academy Prize, at the Blue Ribbon Awards and at the Mainichi Film Award, Taiyō o Nusunda Otoko by Kazuhiko Hasegawa won Best film at the Yokohama Film Festival and at the Hochi Film Awards. For a list of Japanese films released in 1979 see Japanese films of 1979.

In manga, the winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award were Doza no Ippon Tsuri by Yusuke Aoyagi (general) and Toward the Terra and Kaze to Ki no Uta by Keiko Takemiya (shōnen or shōjo).^[5] Tonda Couple by Kimio Yanagisawa (shōnen) and The Star of Cottonland by Yumiko Ōshima (shōjo) won the Kodansha Manga Award. For a list of manga released in 1979 see Category:1979 manga.

In music, the 30th Kōhaku Uta Gassen was won by the Red Team (women). Hideki Saijo won the FNS Music Festival and Judy Ongg won the 21st Japan Record Award. For Japanese music in 1979, see 1979 in Japanese music.

In television, see: 1979 in Japanese television.

Japan hosted the Miss International 1979 beauty pageant, won by Filipina Melanie Marquez.

Sports

In athletics (track and field) Japan hosted the Asian Championships and was first in the medal table with 20 gold medals and a total of 59 medals.

In baseball Hiroshima Carp won the Japan Series.

In basketball Japan hosted the ABC Championship and won the second place behind China.

In football (soccer) Japan hosted the FIFA World Youth Championship, won by Argentina. Fujita Engineering won the Japan Soccer League. For the champions of the regional leagues see: 1979 Japanese Regional Leagues. For more see: 1979 in Japanese football.

Births

January 1: Koichi Domoto, idol and singer
January 3: Rie Tanaka, voice actress
January 7: Yōko Honna, voice actress
January 9: Tomiko Van, singer (Do As Infinity)
January 17
- Masae Ueno, judoka
- Takafumi Nishitani, former short-track skater
January 18: Sachiko Kojima, voice actress
February 2: Yuichi Tsuchiya, actor
February 9: Akinori Iwamura, former professional baseball player
February 19: Miki Furukawa, musician
March 8: Jasmine You, musician (died 2009)
March 20: Shinnosuke Abe, former professional baseball player
March 26: Hiromi Uehara, jazz composer and pianist
April 4: Bunko Kanazawa, AV idol
April 7: Keiichi Hirano, former professional baseball pitcher
April 10: Tsuyoshi Domoto, entertainer (KinKi Kids)
April 18: Yusuke Kamiji, actor
May 14: Jun Ideguchi, football player
May 28: Atsushi Nomi, baseball pitcher
May 30: Rie Kugimiya, voice actress and singer
June 9: Ryoko Kuninaka, actress and singer
June 11: Rino Nakasone Razalan, Japanese-American dancer and choreographer
June 18: Yumiko Kobayashi, voice actress
June 23: Shigeki Tsujimoto, football player
July 3: Sayuri Katayama, actress, singer and lyricist
July 16
- Mai Nakamura, backstroke swimmer
- Kinya Kotani, singer
July 21: Haruki Mizuno, AV and gravure idol
July 26: Yukihiro Aoba, football player
August 2: Hitoshi Sogahata, football player
August 7: Seiji Koga, football player
August 13: Taizō Sugimura, politician
August 28: Yuki Maeda, singer
September 18
- Ryu Saito, football player
- Junichi Inamoto, football player
September 26: Naomichi Marufuji, professional wrestler
September 27: Shinji Ono, football player
September 30: Yuta Minami, football player
October 3: Yuri Ebihara, model and actress
October 6: Emi Naito, softball player
October 11: Reiko Takagaki, model and actress
October 12: Rie Tomosaka, actress and popstar
October 19: Hiromi Yanagihara, J-pop singer (died 1999)
October 30: Yukie Nakama, actress, singer, and idol
November 1: Atsuko Enomoto, voice actress
November 15: Aki Nawa, ten-pin bowler
November 24: Sachiyo Shibata, kickboxer
November 26: Tetsuya Oishi, football player
November 29: Shosei Koda, terrorism victim (died 2004)
December 7
- Hirokazu Otsubo, football player
- Ayako Fujitani, actress
December 9
- Aiko Uemura, freestyle skier
- Olivia Lufkin, singer-songwriter
December 10 – Keiko Nemoto, voice actress
December 21: Hinano Yoshikawa, fashion model and singer
December 23: Yukifumi Murakami, javelin thrower
December 25: Tatsuya Ishikawa, football player
December 26: Kazuhiko Ikematsu, wrestler
December 29: Moe Oshikiri, model

Shinnosuke Abe, current manager of Tokyo Giants
Shinji Ono, An Adelaide United 2013-2014 season

Deaths

January 12: Shunsaku Kudō, Imperial Japanese Navy officer (b. 1901)
January 23: Motoo Ōtaguro, music critic (b. 1893)
January 29: Yusuke Hagihara, astronomer (b. 1897)
February 24: Yoshie Shiratori, murderer (b. 1907)
March 25: Akinoumi Setsuo, sumo wrestler (b. 1914)
March 26: Iwao Matsuda, senior officer in the Imperial Japanese army (b. 1895)
April 17: Yukio Tsuda, football player (b. 1917)
May 23: Hiroshi Ohshita, professional baseball player (b. 1922)
May 29: Eddie Imazu, art director (b. 1897)
July 8: Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, physicist (b. 1906)
July 20: Shōji Yamagishi, photography critic, curator, and magazine editor (b. 1930)
July 27: Sōkichi Takagi, admiral and political figure (b. 1893)
August 24: Shigeharu Nakano, author and Communist Party politician (b. 1902)
August 25: Sōgen Asahina, Rinzai zen master (b. 1891)
September 17: Mitsuru Yoshida, author and naval officer (b. 1923)
September 30: Shiina Etsusaburo, foreign minister of Japan from 1964 to 1966 (b. 1898)
October 22: Mieko Kamiya, psychiatrist (b. 1914)
November 16: Ichirō Saitō, film composer (b. 1909)
December 25: Kenji Tomiki, aikido and judo teacher (b. 1900)

References

^ "Hirohito | Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
^ ja:三菱銀行人質事件 (Japanese language edition) Retributed date on 24 January 2019.
^ ja:日本坂トンネル火災事故 (Japanese language edition) Retributed date on 24 January 2019.
^ ja:日本プロジェクト産業協議会 (Japanese language edition) Retrieved date on June 1, 2022.
^ 小学館漫画賞：歴代受賞者 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-30.