1992 in Japan

Events in the year 1992 in Japan. It corresponds to Heisei 4 in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

Emperor: Akihito
Prime Minister: Kiichi Miyazawa
Chief Cabinet Secretary: Kōichi Katō until December 12, Yōhei Kōno
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Ryōhachi Kusaba
President of the House of Representatives: Yoshio Sakurauchi
President of the House of Councillors: Yūji Osada until July 9, Bunbē Hara from August 7
Diet sessions: 123rd, 124th, 125th

Governors

Aichi Prefecture: Reiji Suzuki
Akita Prefecture: Kikuji Sasaki
Aomori Prefecture: Masaya Kitamura
Chiba Prefecture: Takeshi Numata
Ehime Prefecture: Sadayuki Iga
Fukui Prefecture: Yukio Kurita
Fukuoka Prefecture: Hachiji Okuda
Fukushima Prefecture: Eisaku Satō
Gifu Prefecture: Taku Kajiwara
Gunma Prefecture: Hiroyuki Kodera
Hiroshima Prefecture: Toranosuke Takeshita
Hokkaido: Takahiro Yokomichi
Hyogo Prefecture: Toshitami Kaihara
Ibaraki Prefecture: Fujio Takeuchi
Ishikawa Prefecture: Yōichi Nakanishi
Iwate Prefecture: Iwao Kudō
Kagawa Prefecture: Jōichi Hirai
Kagoshima Prefecture: Yoshiteru Tsuchiya
Kanagawa Prefecture: Kazuji Nagasu
Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto
Kumamoto Prefecture: Joji Fukushima
Kyoto Prefecture: Teiichi Aramaki
Mie Prefecture: Ryōzō Tagawa
Miyagi Prefecture: Shuntarō Honma
Miyazaki Prefecture: Suketaka Matsukata
Nagano Prefecture: Gorō Yoshimura
Nagasaki Prefecture: Isamu Takada
Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto
Niigata Prefecture: Kiyoshi Kaneko ; Ikuo Hirayama
Oita Prefecture: Morihiko Hiramatsu
Okayama Prefecture: Shiro Nagano
Okinawa Prefecture: Masahide Ōta
Osaka Prefecture: Kazuo Nakagawa
Saga Prefecture: Isamu Imoto
Saitama Prefecture: Yawara Hata ; Yoshihiko Tsuchiya
Shiga Prefecture: Minoru Inaba
Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita
Shizuoka Prefecture: Shigeyoshi Saitō
Tochigi Prefecture: Fumio Watanabe
Tokushima Prefecture: Shinzo Miki
Tokyo: Shun'ichi Suzuki
Tottori Prefecture: Yuji Nishio
Toyama Prefecture: Yutaka Nakaoki
Wakayama Prefecture: Shirō Kariya
Yamagata Prefecture: Seiichirō Itagaki
Yamaguchi Prefecture: Toru Hirai
Yamanashi Prefecture: Ken Amano

Events

January 8: US President George H. W. Bush vomits in Prime Minister Miyazawa's lap during a state dinner.
January 12: According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a settlement ship Fukujin-maru, carrying 46 passengers and crew, capsizes off Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, 37 persons were rescued, 9 persons were their lost to lives.
January 13: Japan apologizes for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.
March 7: Sailor Moon began broadcasting on TV Asahi.
March 14: Nozomi services begin on the Tokaido Shinkansen.
March 25: Huis ten Bosch opens in Nagasaki Prefecture.
April 1
*Chiba City is divided into wards.
* Taiyo Kobe Mitsui Bank renames itself to Sakura Bank.
April 27: Kirby's Dream Land, the first video game in the Kirby series by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory and the debut of Kirby himself, is released.
May 2: Civil servants are granted a two-day weekend for the first time.
May 22: Japan New Party founded.
July 1: Yamagata Shinkansen opens.
July 26: In Upper House elections, the LDP holds on to a slim coalition majority.
October 14: Liberal Democratic Party member Shin Kanemaru resigns over the receipt of illegal payments from Sagawa Express.
October 23: Emperor Akihito visits the People's Republic of China for the first time.
October 29–November 8: Finals of the 1992 AFC Asian Cup held in Japan. The Japan national football team defeat the defending champions, Saudi Arabia, in the final in Hiroshima.

Births

January 6: Hiroya, kickboxer
January 12: Mao Kobayashi, idol
February 1: Mao Ichimichi, actress
February 7: Maimi Yajima, singer
February 26: Ai Shinozaki, gravure idol and singer
March 6: Momoko Tsugunaga, singer
March 11: Nao Tōyama, voice actress and singer
March 21: Erena Mizusawa, model and actress
March 25: Machico, singer and voice actress
March 27: Aoi Yūki, voice actress
April 13: Daichi Hashimoto, professional wrestler
April 25: Kyosuke Ikeda, actor and voice actor
May 1: You Kikkawa, singer
May 22: Chinami Tokunaga, J-pop singer
May 28: Gaku Shibasaki, footballer
June 27: Tsubasa Honda, actress and model
July 3: Maasa Sudo, singer
July 12: Anna Ishibashi, model and actress
July 15:
*Hokutōfuji Daiki, sumo wrestler
*Koharu Kusumi, J-pop singer, voice actress, and model
July 16: Tetsuto Yamada, baseball player
August 5: Yasutaka Uchiyama, tennis player
August 6: Saori Ōnishi, voice actress
August 10: Ari Ozawa, voice actress
August 16: Zawachin, model
August 18: Riko Narumi, actress and model
August 20: Mai Shiraishi, idol singer and model
August 23: Yuka Kono, figure skater
August 25: Miyabi Natsuyaki, singer
August 27
*Ayame Goriki, actress, singer and model
*Sayuri Matsumura, idol singer, model
September 3: Sachie Ishizu, tennis player
September 7: Suzuka Morita, model and actress
September 28: Koko Tsurumi, artistic gymnast
October 2: Yasuaki Yamasaki, professional baseball player
October 3: Aina Hashimoto, singer, actress and voice actress
October 4: Shun Miyazato, actor and voice actor
October 5: Hirotaka Chiba, actor and voice actor
October 19: Shiho, actress and model
October 27: Taiko Katono, actor and model
November 5: Takuya Kai, baseball player
November 15: Minami Minegishi, singer and actress
November 20: Maiha Ishimura, singer
November 25: Haru Nomura, golfer
December 8: Yui Yokoyama, singer and actress
December 14: Ryo Miyaichi, footballer
December 20: Shuta Tonosaki, professional baseball player
December 22: Shiori Kutsuna, actress and idol

Deaths

April 25: Yutaka Ozaki, songwriter and rock star
May 11: Taku Izumi, composer
May 22: Lee Yangji, author
May 24: Hitoshi Ogawa, racing car driver
May 27: Machiko Hasegawa, illustrator
May 29: Yoshitoshi Mori, artist
June 8: Sakae Ōba, officer of the Imperial Japanese Army
June 10: Hachidai Nakamura, composer
July 5: Toshirō Oumi, singer, composer
August 4: Seicho Matsumoto, author
August 12: Kenji Nakagami, author
September 5: Yasuji Mori, animator
September 25: Kazuko Matsuo, singer

Statistics

Yen value: US$1 = ¥111.85