1940 in Japan explained

Events in the year 1940 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 15 (昭和15年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

Emperor

Hirohito^[1]

Prime Minister

- Nobuyuki Abe, until January 16,
- Mitsumasa Yonai, until July 22,
- Fumimaro Konoe, from July 22

Governors

Aichi Prefecture

Kotaro Tanaka (until 9 April); Kodama Kyuichi (starting 9 April)

Akita Prefecture: Yukio Tomeoka (until 24 July); Fumi (starting 24 July)
Aomori Prefecture: Noburo Suzuki (until 24 July); Seiichi Ueda (starting 24 July)
Ehime Prefecture: Yoshio Mochinaga (until 24 July); Susumu Nakamura Noriyuki (starting 24 July)
Fukui Prefecture: Kiyoshi Kimura (until 14 April); Kubota (starting 14 April)
Fukuoka Prefecture: Kyuichi Kodama
Fukushima Prefecture: Seikichi Hashimoto (until 24 December); Sumio Hisakawa (starting 24 December)
Gifu Prefecture: Miyano Shozo
Gunma Prefecture: Kumano Ei (until 20 October); Susukida Yoshitomo (starting 20 October)
Hiroshima Prefecture

Katsuroku Aikawa

Ibaraki Prefecture

Tokitsugi Yoshinaga

Ishikawa Prefecture

Narita Ichiro (until month unknown)

Iwate Prefecture: Chiyoji Yukizawa (until 10 April); Yoshifumi Yamauchi (starting 10 April)
Kagawa Prefecture: Nagatoshi Fujioka (until 9 April); Osamu Eianhyaku (starting 9 April)
Kanagawa Prefecture

Kumamoto Prefecture

Tomoichi Koyama

Kochi Prefecture: Kondo Shunsuke (until 9 April); Chioji Yukisawa (starting 9 April)
Kyoto Prefecture

Tota Akamatsuko (until April); Jitsuzo Kawanishi (starting April)

Mie Prefecture: Masatoshi Sato (until 4 April); Yoshiro Nakano (starting 4 April)
Miyagi Prefecture

Ryosaku Shimizu (until 4 April); Nobuo Hayashin (starting 4 April)

Miyazaki Prefecture: Jitsuzo Kawanishi (until month unknown)
Nagano Prefecture

Tomita Kenji (until 22 July); Nagoya Osamu (starting 22 July)

- Nagasaki Prefecture: Jitsuzo Kawanishi Niigata Prefecture

Seikichi Kimishima (until 9 April); Yasui Seiichiro (starting 9 April)

Okinawa Prefecture

Fusataro Fuchigami

Saga Prefecture

Kato (until 9 April); Masaki (starting 9 April)

Saitama Prefecture

Toki Ginjiro

Shiname Prefecture: Kiyoo Ebe (until 23 December); Yasuo Otsubo (starting 23 December)
Tochigi Prefecture: Adachi Shuuritsu (until 8 April); Saburo Yamagata (starting 8 April)
Tokyo

Okada Shuzo

Toyama Prefecture: Kenzo Yano
Yamagata Prefecture: Ishiguro Takeshige (until 24 August); Hee Yamauchi (starting 24 August)

Films

Events

Throughout the entire year - Celebration of year 2600 in Japanese imperial year
January 15 - A large fire destroys much of Shizuoka city center.
January 29 - According to Japanese government official confirmed report, a three-passenger locomotive commuter train derail and caught fire nearby Ajikawaguchi Station, Osaka, resulting to 189 person (181 were instantly, 8 were hospital) were death and 69 persons injures.
March 16 - April 3 - Battle of Wuyuan
May 1–June 18 - Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang
September 22 - 26 - Japanese invasion of French Indochina
November 25–30 - Central Hubei Operation

Births

January 1 - Ippei Kuri, manga artist and entrepreneur (d. 2023)^[2]
January 2 - Masahiko Tsugawa, actor (d. 2018)^[3]
February 11 - Kinryuu Arimoto, voice actor (d. 2019)
May 13 - Kōkichi Tsuburaya, marathoner (d. 1968)
May 25 - Nobuyoshi Araki, photographer and artist
June 3 - Koichi Kishi, politician (d. 2017)
July 2 - Ruriko Asaoka, actress
July 19 - Hanako, Princess Hitachi, wife of Masahito, Prince Hitachi
August 20 - Gisaburō Sugii, anime director and Nihonga artist
September 20 - Tarō Asō, 59th Prime Minister of Japan
October 30 - Hidetoshi Nagasawa, sculptor and architect (d. 2018)
December 4 - Fumio Kyūma, politician

Deaths

January 1 - Fusajiro Yamauchi, entrepreneur (b. 1859)
March 8 - Princess Masako Takeda, sixth daughter of Emperor Meiji (b. 1888)
May 11 - Chujiro Hayashi, Reiki practitioner (b. 1880)
June 5 - Tokugawa Iesato, politician (b. 1863)
September 4 - Prince Nagahisa Kitashirakawa, career army officer (b. 1910)
October 6 - Michitarō Komatsubara, general (b. 1885)
November 20 - Hideo Oguma, poet (b. 1901)
November 24 - Saionji Kinmochi, politician, statesman and Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1849)

Notes and References

Web site: Hirohito Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts . Encyclopedia Britannica . 27 March 2019 . en.
Web site: Tatsunoko Production Co-Founder Ippei Kuri Passes Away. Anime News Network. July 19, 2023.
Web site: Masahiko Tsugawa 知恵蔵mini「津川雅彦」の解説. KOTOBANK. July 24, 2021.