1944 in Japan explained

Events in the year 1944 in Japan.

Incumbents

• Emperor

Hirohito^[1]

• 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

• 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^[2]
• December 30–31 - Battle of Pearl Ridge

Births

• February 8 - Isao Shibata, former professional baseball player
• April 5 - Hiroyuki Hosoda, politician (d. 2023)^[3]
• April 16 - Shoji Tabuchi, fiddler
• July 8 - Hironobu Takesaki, former Chief Justice of Japan
• July 15 - Ken Kagaya, painter and writer (d. 2003)^[4]

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hirohito Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts . Encyclopedia Britannica . 27 March 2019 . en.
2. Book: Walker . Brett L. . A Concise History of Japan . 26 February 2015 . Cambridge University Press . 978-1-107-00418-4 . 292 . en.
3. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/11/10/japan/politics/lower-house-speaker-hosoda-dies/ Former Lower House speaker and LDP heavyweight Hiroyuki Hosoda dies
4. Web site: Ken Kagaya 加賀谷 研: Painter and Writer . Ken-kagaya.daportfolio.com . 2012-09-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304132337/http://ken-kagaya.daportfolio.com/ . 2016-03-04 .