1955 in Japan

Events in the year 1955 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 30 in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

Emperor: Hirohito
Prime Minister: Ichirō Hatoyama
Chief Cabinet Secretary: Ryutaro Nemoto
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
President of the House of Representatives: Tō Matsunaga until January 24, Shūji Masutani from March 18
President of the House of Councillors: Yahachi Kawai

Governors

Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
Akita Prefecture: Tokuji Ikeda ; Yūjirō Obata
Aomori Prefecture: Bunji Tsushima
Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata
Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
Fukui Prefecture: Harukazu Obata ; Seiichi Hane
Fukuoka Prefecture: Katsuji Sugimoto ; Taichi Uzaki
Fukushima Prefecture: Sakuma Ootake
Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto
Gunma Prefecture: Shigeo Kitano
Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroo Ōhara
Hokkaido: Toshifumi Tanaka
Hyogo Prefecture: Masaru Sakamoto
Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue
Ishikawa Prefecture: Wakio Shibano ; Jūjitsu Taya
Iwate Prefecture: Kenkichi Kokubun ; Senichi Abe
Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono
Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama
Kochi Prefecture: Wakaji Kawamura ; Masumi Mizobuchi
Kumamoto Prefecture: Saburō Sakurai
Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
Mie Prefecture: Masaru Aoki ; Satoru Tanaka
Miyagi Prefecture: Otogorō Miyagi
Miyazaki Prefecture: Nagashige Tanaka ; Jingo Futami
Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi
Nagasaki Prefecture: Takejirō Nishioka
Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
Niigata Prefecture: Shohei Okada Kazuo Kitamura
Oita Prefecture: Tokuju Hosoda ; Kaoru Kinoshita
Okayama Prefecture: Yukiharu Miki
Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama
Saga Prefecture: Naotsugu Nabeshima
Saitama Prefecture: Yuuichi Oosawa
Shiga Prefecture: Kotaro Mori
Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu
Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
Tochigi Prefecture: Juukichi Kodaira ; Kiichi Ogawa
Tokushima Prefecture: Kuniichi Abe ; Kikutaro Hara
Tokyo: Seiichirō Yasui
Tottori Prefecture: Shigeru Endo
Toyama Prefecture: Kunitake Takatsuji
Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
Yamagata Prefecture: Michio Murayama ; Tōkichi Abiko
Yamaguchi Prefecture: Taro Ozawa
Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

Events

January 28 - Benesse Corporation was founded, as predecessor name was Fukutake Shoten.
February 17 - According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, Seibo no Sono fire in Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, total 99 person were death.
February 27 - 1955 Japanese general election
April Unknown date - Bunka Shutter was founded, as predecessor name was Nippon Bunka Steel Door.
April 7 - Radio Tokyo TV begins broadcasting.
April 16–17 - Abe coal mine debris collapse, due to heavy torrential rain hit in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, resulting in 73 persons death, according to JFDMA official confirmed report.
April 21 - Opening of Gokō Station
May 11 - Shiun Maru disaster
May 14 - According to Japan National Police Agency official confirmed report, a charter bus plunged into the Kitakami River in Iwate Prefecture, resulting in twelve deaths and twenty-eight injured.
July 28- According to JFDMA official confirmed report, 36 junior school students died when a high wave hit, during school swimming lesson in Nakakawara beach, Tsu, Mie Prefecture.
September 3 - Yumiko-chan incident
November 1 - According to JFDMA official confirmed report, Moshiri Coal mine gas explosion hit in Akabira, Hokkaido, official death toll number is 60, with 17 person were wounded.
November 15 - Japan Liberal Party and Democratic Party of Japan were unified, ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan has started.
Establishment of Akkeshi Prefectural Natural Park

Births

Many notable Japanese individuals from Young Japanese Baby Boom/Danso Generation were born in 1955, such as Ran Ito, Mayumi Tanaka, Mami Koyama, Hiromi Ōta, Keiko Takahashi, Pac-Man creator Tōru Iwatani, George Tokoro, Setsuko Karasuma, Akiko Yano, Jiro Watanabe, Mariya Takeuchi, Kazuhiko Fukuoji, Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, Akira Nishino, Hideki Saijo, Fumi Hirano, Yūko Tanaka, Suguru Egawa, Masaharu Morimoto, Takashi Naito, Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Sanma Akashiya, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Hideo Fukuyama, Shinbo Nomura, Toshimitsu Motegi, Hiromi Go, LaSalle Ishii, Yasukazu Hamada, Etsuko Shihomi, Yukihiko Tsutsumi, and Katsunobu Katō. Other notable individuals were Akio Saito, Mayumi Muroyama, Koichi Nakano, and Chiharu Matsuyama.

January–March

January 13 - Ran Itō, actress
January 15 - Mayumi Tanaka, voice actress
January 17 - Mami Koyama, voice actress
January 20 - Hiromi Ōta, singer
January 22 - Keiko Takahashi, actress
January 25 - Tōru Iwatani, video game designer and creator of Pac-Man
January 28 - George Tokoro, television personality and singer-songwriter
February 3 - Setsuko Karasuma, actress and model
February 12 - Ai Satō, voice actress
February 13 - Akiko Yano, singer-songwriter
February 23 - Akio Saito, former professional baseball player
March 2 - Shoko Asahara, cult leader
March 16 - Jiro Watanabe, boxer
March 20 - Mariya Takeuchi, singer-songwriter

April–June

April 3 - Kazuhiko Fukuoji, artist
April 5 - Akira Toriyama, manga artist and creator of Dragon Ball
April 7 - Akira Nishino, soccer player and manager
April 13 - Hideki Saijo, singer and actor
April 15 - Ryūtarō Nakamura, anime director
April 23 - Fumi Hirano, voice actress and essayist
April 29 - Yūko Tanaka, actress
May 9 - Masayuki Kakefu, former professional baseball player
May 24 - Rumiko Ukai, voice actress
May 25 - Suguru Egawa, baseball player
May 26 - Masaharu Morimoto, chef
May 28 - Takashi Naito, actor
May 30 - Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII, Kabuki actor
June 1 - Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, sumo wrestler
June 18 - Mariko Fuji, actress
June 26 - Yoko Gushiken, boxer

July–September

July 1 - Sanma Akashiya, comedian and actor
July 19 - Kiyoshi Kurosawa, director and writer
August 13 - Hideo Fukuyama, retired motorsport car race driver
August 20 - Agnes Chan, television personality
August 30 - Mayumi Muroyama, manga artist
September 4 - Hiroshi Izawa, actor
September 24 - Shinbo Nomura, manga artist

October–December

October 7 - Toshimitsu Motegi, politician and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs
October 18 - Hiromi Go, singer
October 19 - LaSalle Ishii, television personality
October 21 - Yasukazu Hamada, politician
October 29 - Etsuko Shihomi, actress
November 3 - Yukihiko Tsutsumi, film director
November 14 - Koichi Nakano, bicycle rider
November 22 - Katsunobu Katō, politician, former three-time Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare, former Chief Cabinet Secretary, and former Minister of Finance
December 9 - Asashio Tarō IV, sumo wrestler
December 16 - Chiharu Matsuyama, singer-songwriter
December 24 - Mizuho Fukushima, politician

Deaths

February 17 - Ango Sakaguchi, author
October 15 - Fumio Hayasaka, composer
October 25 - Sadako Sasaki, hibakusha