1945 in Japan

Events in the year 1945 in Japan.
1945 was the last year of World War II and the first year of the Allied occupation.

Incumbents

Emperor: Hirohito
Prime Minister: Kuniaki Koiso, Kantarō Suzuki, Prince Higashikuni, Kijuro Shidehara
Minister of War: Gen Sugiyama, Korechika Anami
Minister of the Navy: Mitsumasa Yonai
Supreme Commander Allied Powers: Douglas MacArthur

Governors

Aichi Prefecture:
* until 21 April: Shinji Yoshino
* 21 April-10 June: Tadayoshi Obata
* starting 10 June: Ryuichi Fukumoto
Akita Prefecture: Tadashi Hisayasuhiroshi ; Kinsaburo Ikeda
Aomori Prefecture: Hiroo Oshima ; Motohiko Kanai
Ehime Prefecture:
* until 21 April: Chiyoji Kizawa
* 21 April-27 October: Hiroyuki Doi
* starting 27 October: Shotaro Toshima
Fukui Prefecture: Hatsuo Kato ; Eminai Miyata
Fukushima Prefecture: Koichi Kameyama ; Ishii Masakazu
Gifu Prefecture:
* until 21 October: Masami Hashimoto
* 21 April-27 October: Okino Saturo
* starting 27 October: Yoshihira Nomura
Gunma Prefecture: Toshio Takahashi
Hiroshima Prefecture:
* until 21 April: Mitsuma Matsumura
* 21 April-10 June: Korekiyo Otsuka
* 10 June-11 October: Genshin Takano
* 11 October-27 October: Kyuichi Kodama
* starting 27 October: Tsunei Kusunose
Ibaraki Prefecture:
* until 21 April: Hisashi Imai
* 21 April-19 August: Masami Hashimoto
* starting 19 August: Yoji Tomosue
Iwate Prefecture: Tamemasu Miyata ; Tamemasu Miyata
Kagawa Prefecture:
* until 21 January: Yoshiji Kosuga
* 21 January-21 April: Osamu Mori Izumi
* 21 April-26 October: Masami Kimura
* starting 26 October: Shogo Tanaka
Kochi Prefecture:
* until 21 April: Saburo Takahashi
* 21 April-25 October: Kurihara Haya
* starting 25 October: Nagano Yoshitatsu
Kumamoto Prefecture: Soga Kajimatsu ; Hirai Fumi
Kyoto Prefecture:
* until June: Arai Zentaro
* June-October: Shigeo Miyoshi
* starting October: Atsushi Kimura
Mie Prefecture:
* until 21 May: Yoshio Mochinaga
* 21 May-27 October: Shigeo Shimizu
* starting 27 October: Kobayashi Chiaki
Miyagi Prefecture:
* until 10 June: Tsurukichi Maruyama
* 10 June-27 October: Motome Ikezumi
* starting 27 October: Saburo Chiba
Miyazaki Prefecture: Akira Taniguchi ; Tadao Annaka
Nagano Prefecture: Yasuo Otsubo ; Monobe Kaoruro
Niigata Prefecture:
* until 1 February: Hatada Masatomi
* 1 February-9 April: Kingo Chisato
* starting 9 April: Hatada Masatomi
Oita Prefecture: Motoharu Nakamura
Okinawa Prefecture:
* until 3 April: Osamu Mori Izumi
* 12 January-3 April: Akira Shimada
* starting 20 August: Koshin Shikiya
Saga Prefecture: Miyazaki Kenta ; Genichi Okimori
Saitama Prefecture: Ryuichi Fukumoto ; Sekigaiyo Otoko
Shiname Prefecture: Takeo Yamada ; Kiyoshi Ito
Tochigi Prefecture: Soma Toshio
Tokyo: Nisho Toshizo ; Hisatada Hirose
Toyama Prefecture: Shigero Okamoto ; Keiichi Yoshitake
Yamagata Prefecture:
* until 21 April: Michio Murayama
* 21 April-27 October: Zhi Sasayama
* starting 27 October: Michio Murayama

Events

February 18 - U.S. Marines land on Iwo Jima.
March 10 - Major bombing of [Bombing of Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945)|Tokyo (10 March 1945)|Tokyo]
March 12 - First bombing of Nagoya.
March 13 - First bombing of Osaka.
March 26 - U.S. forces win the Battle of Iwo Jima, defeating the last remaining troops led by Tadamichi Kuribayashi.
April 7 - The Japanese battleship Yamato is sunk.
April 7 - Koiso Cabinet resigns and Kantarō Suzuki forms his cabinet.
May 24 - Second major bombing of Tokyo.
May 29 - First bombing of Yokohama.
July 26 - Allies issue Potsdam Declaration; Japan refuses to agree to its terms.
August 6 - Atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
August 8 - Soviet Union declares war on Japan.
August 9 - Atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
August 15 - Last Allied bombing of Japan takes place in Odawara and Tsuchizaki.
August 15 - Emperor Hirohito declares Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration.
August 30 - Douglas MacArthur arrives in Japan.
September 2 - Japanese officials sign instrument of surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri.
24 September - Hirohito says that he did not want war and blames Tojo for the attack on Pearl Harbor
October 2 - Office of the Supreme Commander Allied Powers is established at the Dai-Ichi Seimei Building in Tokyo.
October 5 - Higashikuni Cabinet resigns.
October 9 - Shidehara Cabinet is formed.
October 15 - Peace Preservation Law is repealed.
October 31 - A news agency, Dōmei, officially disbanded, on following day, the news agency operation in nationwide, which separated into Kyōdō News Service and Jiji Press.
November 6 - According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a passenger ship Toyo-maru No 10, capsized off Hakata Island, Seto Inland Sea, Ehime Prefecture, 397 persons were perished.
November 12 - According to Fukuoka Prefecture official confirmed report, a large scale explosion, while to Allied Peacekeeping Forces were disposing of weapons hidden by Japanese Imperial Army in Futamata Tunnel in Soeda, Kyushu Island, 147 persons were killed and 149 persons were wounded.
December 9 - According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a passenger ship Sekirei-maru capsized by overcapacity and rough sea off Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture, total 304 persons were their lost to lives.
December 17 - Women's suffrage is granted in Diet elections.
December 18 - House of Representatives is dissolved: First post-WWII general election called for April 1, 1946.

Births

January 6:
* Chieko Matsubara, actress
* Toshiko Hamayotsu, politician
January 29: Yoko Shinozaki, volleyball player
February 16: Masataka Itsumi, television announcer and singer
February 25: Toshikatsu Matsuoka, politician
March 7: Sadakazu Tanigaki, politician
March 13: Sayuri Yoshinaga, actress
March 14: Komaki Kurihara, actress
June 9: Yūji Aoki, manga artist
June 14: Hiroshi Miyauchi, actor
July 6: Kyōzō Nagatsuka, actor
July 7: Ikezawa Natsuki, author
July 10: Katsuji Mori, voice actor and narrator
July 19: Kenji Kimura, volleyball player
July 25: Masakatsu Morita, Tatenokai member
August 6: Yoshinori Sakai, Olympic flame torchbearer
August 20: Tomio Sumimoto, sprint canoer
August 22: Tamori, comedian and television entertainer
September 3: Fusako Shigenobu, leader of Japanese Red Army
September 12: Yumiko Fujita, actress
October 2: Shigenobu Murofushi, athlete
October 9: Kiyoko Suizenji, enka singer
October 19: Shigeo Nakata, wrestler
October 25: Keaton Yamada, voice actor and narrator
November 16: Haruko Okamoto, figure skater
November 28: Hirofumi Nakasone, politician and the son of former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone
December 1: Sumiko Fuji, actress
December 15: Kimiko Kasai, jazz singer
December 23: Noriko Tsukase, voice actress

Deaths

January 9: Shigekazu Shimazaki, career officer
February 26: Sanji Iwabuchi
March 22: Takeichi Nishi
March 26: Tadamichi Kuribayashi
April 1: Gōtarō Ogawa
May 11: Kiyoshi Ogawa, naval aviator
March 17: Tatsugo Kawaishi, swimmer
April 16: Toshiko Tamura, novelist
May 16: Shintarō Hashimoto, admiral
May 21: Prince Kan'in Kotohito, Chief of Army General Staff
June 3: Fusashige Suzuki, athlete
June 7: Kitaro Nishida, philosopher
June 22: Isamu Chō, officer
June 23: Mitsuru Ushijima, general
August 6: Senkichi Awaya, mayor of Hiroshima
August 15:
*Korechika Anami, war leader
*Matome Ugaki, admiral
August 16: Takijirō Ōnishi, admiral
August 17: Shimaki Kensaku, author
August 19: Hasuda Zenmei, scholar of kokugaku
August 20: Masahiko Amakasu, officer
August 24:
*Midori Naka, stage actress
*Shizuichi Tanaka, general
September 9: Yoshitsugu Tatekawa, lieutenant-general
September 12: Hajime Sugiyama, field marshal
September 14: Kunihiko Hashida, physician and physiologist
September 20: Chōtoku Kyan, Okinawan karate master
September 26: Kiyoshi Miki, philosopher
October 15: Mokutaro Kinoshita, author, Dramaturge, poet, art historian and literary critic
October 18: Yoshiki Hayama, writer
October 28: Kesago Nakajima, lieutenant-general
November 30: Shigeru Honjō, general
December 13: Goro Shiba, military leader during the Boxer Rebellion
December 16: Fumimaro Konoe, former prime minister