1958 in Japan

Events in the year 1958 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 33 (昭和33年) in the Japanese calendar.

← 1957 1956 1955 1958 in Japan → 1959 1960 1961
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	Other events of 1958 History of Japan  • Timeline  • Years

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito^[1]
• Prime minister: Nobusuke Kishi^[2]
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Kiichi Aichi until June 12, Munenori Akagi
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
• President of the House of Representatives: Shūji Masutani until April 25, Nirō Hoshijima from June 11 until December 13, Ryōgorō Katō
• President of the House of Councillors: Tsuruhei Matsuno

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
• Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
• Aomori Prefecture: Iwao Yamazaki
• Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata
• Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
• Fukui Prefecture: Seiichi Hane
• Fukuoka Prefecture: Taichi Uzaki
• Fukushima Prefecture: Zenichiro Satō
• Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto (until 16 October); Yukiyasu Matsuno (starting 17 October)
• Gunma Prefecture: Toshizo Takekoshi
• 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: Yasushi Onuma
• Miyazaki Prefecture: Jingo Futami
• Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi
• Nagasaki Prefecture: Takejirō Nishioka (until 14 January); Katsuya Sato (starting 2 March)
• 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: Hiroshi Kurihara
• Shiga Prefecture: Kotaro Mori (until 6 December); Kyujiro Taniguchi (starting 7 December)
• Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu
• Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
• Tochigi Prefecture: Kiichi Ogawa
• Tokushima Prefecture: Kikutaro Hara
• Tokyo: Seiichirō Yasui
• Tottori Prefecture: Shigeru Endo (until 10 November); Jirō Ishiba (starting 3 December)
• Toyama Prefecture: Minoru Yoshida
• Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
• Yamagata Prefecture: Tōkichi Abiko
• Yamaguchi Prefecture: Taro Ozawa
• Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

Events

Tokyo Tower is opened to the public for the first time.

• January 26 – According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a passenger ferry Nankai Maru capsized Kii Channel, between Wakayama City to Tokushima City, total 167 persons drowned.^[3]
• March 1 – Two medium-size airlines, FarEastern Airways of Japan and Nippon Helicopter Transport, are merged to become All Nippon Airways (ANA) which begins operation in Japan.^[4]
• March 9 – The Kanmon Tunnel opens, connecting Honshu and Kyushu by road for the first time.
• April Unknown date – Ohyama Blow Manufacturing, as predecessor of Iris Ohyama was founded.^{[citation needed]}
• May 2 – Nagasaki Flag incident - Ultra-nationalists pull down a Chinese flag hanging outside an exhibition of postage stamps in Nagasaki, freezing relations between China and Japan.^[5]
• May 22 – General election of 1958 - The Liberal Democratic Party win 298 out of 467 seats.
• June 24 – According to official Japanese government confirmed report, a large scale eruption in Mount Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture, killed a total of twelve persons, and wounded 28.^{[page needed]}
• August 2 – An All Nippon Airways Douglas DC-3 plunges in the sea close to the Izu Islands, killing all 33 occupants of the aircraft.^[6]
• August 25 – Instant noodles go on sale for the first time in Japan.
• September 27 – Typhoon Ida kills at least 1,269 in Honshu.
• October 14 – Construction of Tokyo Tower is completed.
• November 10 – According to Japan Meteorological Agency official confirmed report, a large scale erupted in Mount Asama, Gunma Prefecture, ash height maximum 8,000 meters.^{[page needed]}
• December 23 – Tokyo Tower is opened to the public for the first time, at a final cost of ¥2.8 billion ($8.4 million in 1958).^[7][8]
• December 27 – National Health Care Act of 1958.
• unknown date - The Japanese 10 yen coin ceases having serrated edges after a 5-year period beginning in 1953. All 10 yen coins since have smooth edges.

Births

• January 5 – Junko Yagami, singer and songwriter
• January 20 – Masuo Amada, voice actor
• January 30 – Sayuri Ishikawa, enka singer
• February 1 – Ryō Horikawa, voice actor
• February 4 – Saburō Tokitō, singer and actor
• February 11 – Shinobu Satouchi, voice actor
• March 10 – Hiroshi Yanaka, voice actor
• April 1 – Hiromi Kawakami, author and writer
• April 7 – Shinobu Adachi, voice actress
• April 12 – Hyōichi Kōno, adventurer (d. 2001)
• April 14 – Junko Sakurada, actress and singer
• April 21 – Yoshito Usui, manga artist, creator of Crayon Shin-chan (d. 2009)
• May 2 – Yasushi Akimoto, record producer, lyricist and television writer
• May 11 – Sayuri Kume, singer-songwriter^[9]
• June 14 – Masami Yoshida, javelin thrower (d. 2000)
• June 20 – Teiyū Ichiryūsai, voice actress
• July 5 – Kyoko Terase, voice actress
• July 22 – Tatsunori Hara, professional-baseball coach and player
• August 2 – Shō Hayami, voice actor and singer
• August 15 – Chiharu Suzuka, voice actress
• September 8
  • Mitsuru Miyamoto, voice actor
  • Reiko Terashima, manga artist and illustrator
• October 15 – Masako Katsuki, voice actress
• October 23 – Hiroyuki Kinoshita, actor and voice actor
• October 24 – Hatsuhiko Tsuji, professional baseball m coach and former player
• November 12 – Hiromi Iwasaki, singer
• November 27 – Tetsuya Komuro, music producer and songwriter
• December 2 – Mina Asami, actress
• December 26 – Mieko Harada, actress

Date unknown

• Yoshiteru Otani, cartoonist

Deaths

• April 2 – Jōsei Toda, educator and peace activist (b. 1900)
• September 20 – Ogasawara Naganari, admiral and naval strategist (b. 1867)

See also

• List of Japanese films of 1958