1956 in Japan

Events in the year 1956 in Japan.

← 1955 1954 1953 1956 in Japan → 1957 1958 1959
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	Other events of 1956 History of Japan Timeline Years

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito
• Prime Minister: Ichirō Hatoyama (Liberal Democratic) until December 23, Tanzan Ishibashi (Liberal Democratic)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Ryutaro Nemoto until December 23, Hirohide Ishida
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
• President of the House of Representatives: Shūji Masutani
• President of the House of Councillors: Yahachi Kawai until April 3, Tsuruhei Matsuno

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
• Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
• Aomori Prefecture: Bunji Tsushima (until 1 June); Iwao Yamazaki (starting 20 July)
• Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata
• Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
• Fukui Prefecture: Seiichi Hane
• Fukuoka Prefecture: Taichi Uzaki
• Fukushima Prefecture: Sakuma Ootake
• Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto
• Gunma Prefecture: Shigeo Kitano (until 1 August); Toshizo Takekoshi (starting 2 August)
• Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroo Ōhara
• Hokkaido: Toshifumi Tanaka
• Hyogo Prefecture: Masaru Sakamoto
• Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue
• Ishikawa Prefecture: Jūjitsu Taya
• Iwate Prefecture: Senichi Abe
• Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
• Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono
• Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama
• Kochi Prefecture: Masumi Mizobuchi
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Saburō Sakurai
• Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
• Mie Prefecture: Satoru Tanaka
• Miyagi Prefecture: Otogorō Miyagi (until 4 October); Yasushi Onuma (starting 5 October)
• Miyazaki Prefecture: Jingo Futami
• Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi
• Nagasaki Prefecture: Takejirō Nishioka
• Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
• Niigata Prefecture: Kazuo Kitamura
• Oita Prefecture: Kaoru Kinoshita
• Okayama Prefecture: Yukiharu Miki
• Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama
• Saga Prefecture: Naotsugu Nabeshima
• Saitama Prefecture: Yuuichi Oosawa (until 29 May); Hiroshi Kurihara (starting 16 July)
• Shiga Prefecture: Kotaro Mori
• Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu
• Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
• Tochigi Prefecture: Kiichi Ogawa
• Tokushima Prefecture: Kikutaro Hara
• Tokyo: Seiichirō Yasui
• Tottori Prefecture: Shigeru Endo
• Toyama Prefecture: Kunitake Takatsuji (until 30 September); Minoru Yoshida (starting 1 October)
• Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
• Yamagata Prefecture: Tōkichi Abiko
• Yamaguchi Prefecture: Taro Ozawa
• Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

Events

A second generation of Tsutenkaku, Osaka, picture of twilight show in November 2023

• January 1 - According to Japanese government officially confirmed report, human stampede hit during newyear festival in Yahiko Shrine, Niigata Prefecture, 124 person were perished, 77 person were hurt.
• April 10 – Sanwa Shutter was founded in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.
• May 3 - The first World Judo Championships are held at the Kuramae Kokugikan, Tokyo.
• July 8 - House of Councillors election held.
• October 15 – According to Japan Transport Ministry official confirmed report, two trains crush in Rokken rail accident in Mie Prefecture, official death toll was 42 persons, with 94 persons were hurt.
• October 19 - Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 signed.
• October 28 – A landmark spot in Osaka, Tsūtenkaku was rebuilt, after it caught fire and was demolished in 1943.
• December 12 - Japan becomes a member of the United Nations

Births

• January 1 - Kōji Yakusho, actor
• January 3 - Tomiko Suzuki, voice actress (d. 2003)
• January 5 - Chen Kenichi, chef
• February 5 – Mao Daichi, actress (Takarazuka Revue)
• February 15 - Miyoko Asada, actress
• February 16 – Takayoshi Nakao, former professional baseball player
• February 23 - Goro Noguchi, singer and actor
• February 26 - Keisuke Kuwata, musician
• February 27 – Kenji Niinuma, enka singer
• March 13 – Motoharu Sano, musician and singer-songwriter
• March 20 - Naoto Takenaka, actor, comedian, singer and director
• March 24 – Shinsuke Shimada, former television presenter
• April 8 - Yoshiko Tanaka, actress (d. 2011)
• April 12 - Yasuo Tanaka, politician and novelist
• May 28 - Sayuri Yamauchi, voice actress (d. 2012)
• May 31 - Yoshiko Sakakibara, voice actress
• June 27 – Takeshi Nishimoto, former professional baseball pitcher
• July 15 - Toshihiko Seko, long-distance runner
• July 19 - Yoshiaki Yatsu, professional wrestler
• August 4 - Mika Doi, voice actress
• August 25 – Takeshi Okada, association footballer and football coach
• August 31 - Masashi Tashiro, television performer
• September 7 – Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, singer-songwriter
• September 20 - Makiko Kinoshita, composer
• October 26 – Machiko Watanabe, singer and singer-songwriter
• December 19 - Masami Akita, noise musician, (aka Merzbow)

Deaths

• January 4 – Makoto Nishimura, biologist (b. 1883)
• June 3 – Fukushi Masaichi, physician and pathologist (b. 1878)

See also

• 1956 in Japanese football
• List of Japanese films of 1956