1962 in Japan explained

Events in the year 1962 in Japan.

Incumbents

Hayato Ikeda (Liberal Democratic)

Masayoshi Ōhira until July 18, Yasumi Kurogane

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kisaburo Yokota
President of the House of Representatives: Ichirō Kiyose
President of the House of Councillors: Tsuruhei Matsuno until August 6, Yūzō Shigemune

- - Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata Aomori Prefecture: Iwao Yamazaki Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata (until 2 November); Hisaaki Kano (starting 2 November)
  - Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu Fukui Prefecture: Eizō Kita Fukuoka Prefecture: Taichi Uzaki
    - Fukushima Prefecture: Zenichiro Satō Gifu Prefecture: Yukiyasu Matsuno Gunma Prefecture: Konroku Kanda Hiroshima Prefecture

Hiroo Ōhara (until 13 April); Iduo Nagano (starting 29 May)

Hyogo Prefecture: Masaru Sakamoto (until 6 October); Motohiko Kanai (starting 24 November)
Ibaraki Prefecture

- - - Iwate Prefecture: Senichi Abe Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono Kanagawa Prefecture

- - Nagasaki Prefecture: Katsuya Sato Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda Niigata Prefecture

Juichiro Tsukada

- - - - Shiname Prefecture: Choemon Tanabe Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō Tochigi Prefecture: Nobuo Yokokawa Tokushima Prefecture: Kikutaro Hara Tokyo

- - - - Tottori Prefecture: Jirō Ishiba Toyama Prefecture: Minoru Yoshida Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono Yamagata Prefecture: Tōkichi Abiko Yamaguchi Prefecture: Masayuki Hashimoto Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

May 3 - Mikawashima train crash - A freight train and two passenger trains collide near Mikawashima Station in Arakawa, Tokyo, resulting in 160 deaths.
May 17 - Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma halts the sale of the drug Thalidomide.
May 29 - Tobu Department Store in Tokyo-Ikebukuro was open.
November 9 - An All Nippon Airways Vickers Viscount plane crashes in Aichi Prefecture while en route to Nagoya Airport, killing all 4 occupants of the aircraft.
November 18 - Two tankers, the smaller Munakata Maru 1 owned by Idemitsu Kosan and the larger Thrard Brovig, collide in the Keihin canal in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, causing the deaths of 40 crew members from both ships.
Unknown Date - Kotobuki Foods, as predecessor of Skylark (すかいらーく) Restaurant founded in Nishitokyo, Tokyo.

January 20
- IKKO, make-up artist
- Sakiko Tamagawa, voice actress
February 1 – Takashi Murakami, pop artist
February 25 – Junko Ogata, serial killer
March 10 – Seiko Matsuda, pop singer/songwriter
March 13 – Shoko Sawada, singer-songwriter
March 18 – Kazuhiro Mizoguchi, javelin thrower
March 30 – Yōko Ogawa, writer
April 12 – Nobuhiko Takada, mixed martial arts fighter and professional wrestler
April 30 – Seiji Maehara, politician
May 5 – Kaoru Wada, composer
May 31 – Noriko Hidaka, voice actress
June 10 – Akie Abe, radio DJ
June 11 – Toshihiko Seki, voice actor
June 18 – Mitsuharu Misawa, professional wrestler (d. 2009)
July 19 – Aya Kitō, writer (d. 1988)
August 8 – Yūji Machi, voice actor
August 21 – Tsutomu Miyazaki, serial killer (d. 2008)
September 4 – Shinya Yamanaka, physician and researcher
September 13 – Hisao Egawa, voice actor
October 12 – Ko Matsushita, conductor
October 15 – Yasutoshi Nishimura, politician
October 21 – Miki Itō, voice actress
October 27 – Jun'ichi Kanemaru, voice actor
November 14 – Atsuko Tanaka, voice actress (d. 2024)
November 27 – Marumi Shiraishi, actress
December 1 – Shozo Hayashiya IX, rakugoka, tarento and voice actor
December 23 – Keiji Mutoh, professional wrestler

Web site: Hirohito Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts . Encyclopedia Britannica . 27 March 2019 . en.
Book: Kinema Junpōsha . 日本映画俳優全集・女優編 . Complete Works of Japanese Film Actors and Actresses . Tōkyō . Kinema Junpōsha . 1980 . 425 . 22823615 . JA.