1977 in Japan

Events in the year 1977 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 52 (昭和52年) in the Japanese calendar.

← 1976 1975 1974 1977 in Japan → 1978 1979 1980
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	Other events of 1977 History of Japan  • Timeline  • Years

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito^[1]
• Prime minister: Takeo Fukuda (Liberal Democratic)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Sunao Sonoda until November 28, Shintaro Abe
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Ekizo Fujibayashi until August 25, Masao Okahara from August 26
• President of the House of Representatives: Shigeru Hori
• President of the House of Councillors: Kenzō Kōno until July 3, Ken Yasui from July 28
• Diet sessions: 80th (regular session opened on December 30, 1976, to June 9), 81st (extraordinary, July 27 to August 3), 82nd (extraordinary, September 29 to November 25), 83rd (extraordinary, December 7 to December 10), 84th (regular, December 19 to June 16, 1978)

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture: Yoshiaki Nakaya
• Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
• Aomori Prefecture: Shunkichi Takeuchi
• Chiba Prefecture: Kiichi Kawakami
• Ehime Prefecture: Haruki Shiraishi
• Fukui Prefecture: Heidayū Nakagawa
• Fukuoka Prefecture: Hikaru Kamei
• Fukushima Prefecture: Isao Matsudaira
• Gifu Prefecture: vacant (until 8 February); Yosuke Uematsu (starting 8 February)
• Gunma Prefecture: Ichiro Shimizu
• Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroshi Miyazawa
• Hokkaido: Naohiro Dōgakinai
• Hyogo Prefecture: Tokitada Sakai
• Ibaraki Prefecture: Fujio Takeuchi
• Ishikawa Prefecture: Yōichi Nakanishi
• Iwate Prefecture: Tadashi Chida
• Kagawa Prefecture: Tadao Maekawa
• Kagoshima Prefecture: Saburō Kanemaru (until 3 February); Kaname Kamada (starting 3 March)
• Kanagawa Prefecture: Kazuji Nagasu
• Kochi Prefecture: Chikara Nakauchi
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Issei Sawada
• Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
• Mie Prefecture: Ryōzō Tagawa
• Miyagi Prefecture: Sōichirō Yamamoto
• Miyazaki Prefecture: Hiroshi Kuroki
• Nagano Prefecture: Gon'ichirō Nishizawa
• Nagasaki Prefecture: Kan'ichi Kubo
• Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
• Niigata Prefecture: Takeo Kimi
• Oita Prefecture: Masaru Taki
• Okayama Prefecture: Shiro Nagano
• Okinawa Prefecture: Koichi Taira
• Osaka Prefecture: Ryōichi Kuroda
• Saga Prefecture: Sunao Ikeda
• Saitama Prefecture: Yawara Hata
• Shiga Prefecture: Masayoshi Takemura
• Shiname Prefecture: Seiji Tsunematsu
• Shizuoka Prefecture: Keizaburō Yamamoto
• Tochigi Prefecture: Yuzuru Funada
• Tokushima Prefecture: Yasunobu Takeichi
• Tokyo: Ryōkichi Minobe
• Tottori Prefecture: Kōzō Hirabayashi
• Toyama Prefecture: Kokichi Nakada
• Wakayama Prefecture: Shirō Kariya
• Yamagata Prefecture: Seiichirō Itagaki
• Yamaguchi Prefecture: Toru Hirai
• Yamanashi Prefecture: Kunio Tanabe

Events

• January to February – According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency, a widely heavy snow and avalanche, affective winter storm hit around nationwide, resulting to official confirmed report, total 101 person were human fatalities and 834 persons were wounded.^[2]
• January 4 - Poisoned cola is placed in a telephone booth near Shinagawa Station, killing two.
• June 15 - Outbreak of cholera in Arida, Wakayama prefecture.^[3]
• August 7 - Mount Usu erupts.^[4]
• September 9 - Typhoon Babe strikes Okinoerabujima.
• September 19 - Yutaka Kume is abducted by North Korean agents in Noto Peninsula - beginning of North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens.

Births

• January 3 - Mayumi Iizuka, voice actress
• January 22 - Hidetoshi Nakata, footballer
• January 30 – Takahiro Arai, former professional baseball player
• February 10 – Morihiro Hashimoto, darts player (d. 2017)
• March 15 - Norifumi Yamamoto, mixed martial artist
• April 27 - Dai Fujikura, composer
• April 29 - Daisuke Amaya, indie game developer
• May 8 - Chiaki Takahashi, voice actress
• May 26 - Misaki Ito, actress
• June 22 - Ryōko Ono, voice actress
• June 25 - Naoya Tsukahara, gymnast
• June 26 - Tite Kubo, manga artist, creator of BLEACH
• August 13 - Miho Konishi, actress
• August 22 - Miho Kanno, actress and singer
• August 23 - Kenta Miyake, voice actor
• August 25 - Masumi Asano, voice actress
• August 30 - Sayori Ishizuka, voice actress
• September 6 - Kiyoshi Hikawa, enka singer^[5]
• September 15 - Angela Aki, singer-songwriter
• September 20 - Namie Amuro, singer
• September 23 - Nozomi Momoi, Japanese AV idol, and murder victim (d. 2002)
• September 25 - Atsushi Aoki, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 2019)
• October 1 – Christel Takigawa, television presenter
• December 6 - Miwa Yasuda, voice actress

Deaths

• March 21 - Kinuyo Tanaka, actress (b. 1909)
• March 31 - Yasuji Kamada, photographer (b. 1883)
• December 19 - Takeo Kurita, admiral (b. 1889)

See also

• 1977 in anime
• 1977 in Japanese television
• List of Japanese films of 1977

References

1. "Hirohito | Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
2. ja:昭和52年豪雪 (Japanese language edition) Retrieved on October 17, 2021.
3. [Outbreak of cholera around Arida] (in Japanese). Infectious Disease Surveillance Center. Archived from the original on 2011-04-18. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
4. "The 1977–78 Eruptions at the Mountain Peak and Ground Deformation". Archived from the original on 2010-10-12. Retrieved 2010-10-28. Last access 28 October 2010.
5. Hikawa Kiyoshi: Profile. (in Japanese) Columbia Music Entertainment. Accessed May 6, 2008.