Events from the year 1966 in Japan. Under the

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the Japanese era name, year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written f ...

, this year is known as Shōwa 41.

Incumbents

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

: Eisaku Satō (

Liberal Democratic Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal democracy are: ...

) * Chief Cabinet Secretary: Tomisaburo Hashimoto until August 1, Kiichi Aichi until December 3, Kenji Fukunaga *Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

: Kisaburo Yokota until August 5, Masatoshi Yokota from August 6 *President of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

: Kikuchirō Yamaguchi until December 3, Kentarō Ayabe until December 26 *President of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...

: Yūzō Shigemune

Governors

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

: Mikine Kuwahara *Akita Prefecture:

Yūjirō Obata Yūjirō, Yujiro or Yuujirou is a masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Yūjirō can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Some examples: *勇二郎, "courage, 2, son" *勇次郎, "courage, next, son" *勇治郎, ...

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

Shunkichi Takeuchi Shunkichi (written: 俊吉 or 駿吉) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese field hockey player *, Japanese photographer {{given name Japanese masculine given names Masculine given names ...

*Chiba Prefecture:

Taketo Tomonō Taketo (written: 岳人 or 勇人) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese basketball player and coach * Taketo Gohara, Japanese musician *, Japanese footballer Taketō or Taketou (written: 武任) is ...

*Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu *Fukui Prefecture: Eizō Kita *Fukuoka Prefecture: Taichi Uzaki *Fukushima Prefecture: Morie Kimura *Gifu Prefecture: Yukiyasu Matsuno (until 16 October);

Saburō Hirano is a masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Saburō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *三郎, "third son" *三朗, "three, bright" The name can also be written in hiragana or katakana. People with the name *, ...

(starting 17 October) *Gunma Prefecture: Konroku Kanda * Hiroshima Prefecture:

Iduo Nagano was the Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture from 1962 to 1973. In 1974 was elected as a member of the upper house of the Japanese parliament. References {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagano, Iduo 1918 births 1981 deaths People from Hiroshima University ...

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

: Kingo Machimura *Hyogo Prefecture: Motohiko Kanai *

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,828,086 (1 July 2023) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

: Nirō Iwakami *

Ishikawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...

: Yōichi Nakanishi *Iwate Prefecture: Tadashi Chida *Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko *Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono *

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

: Iwataro Uchiyama *Kochi Prefecture: Masumi Mizobuchi *

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

: Kōsaku Teramoto *

Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...

: Torazō Ninagawa *Mie Prefecture: Satoru Tanaka *

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

: Shintaro Takahashi *Miyazaki Prefecture: Hiroshi Kuroki *

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

: Gon'ichirō Nishizawa *Nagasaki Prefecture: Katsuya Sato *Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda *

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

: Juichiro Tsukada (until 28 March); Shiro Watari (starting 8 May) *Oita Prefecture: Kaoru Kinoshita *

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

: Takenori Kato *

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

: Gisen Satō *

Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...

: Sunao Ikeda *

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

: Hiroshi Kurihara *

Shiga Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...

: Kyujiro Taniguchi (until 6 December); Kinichiro Nozaki (starting 7 December) *Shimane Prefecture: Choemon Tanabe *Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō *Tochigi Prefecture: Nobuo Yokokawa *Tokushima Prefecture: Yasunobu Takeichi *

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

: Ryōtarō Azuma *Tottori Prefecture: Jirō Ishiba *Toyama Prefecture: Minoru Yoshida *Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono *Yamagata Prefecture: Tōkichi Abiko *Yamaguchi Prefecture: Masayuki Hashimoto *Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

Events

*January 9 - The Kanai Building fire in Kawasaki City,

leaves 12 dead, 14 injured. *February 4 - All Nippon Airways Flight 60 crashes into

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

, killing all 133 people on board. *March 4 - Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 crashes while landing at night with poor visibility at Tokyo International Airport, with 64 out of 72 on board killed. *March 5 - BOAC Flight 911 crashes while encountering severe

Clear-air turbulence In meteorology, clear-air turbulence (CAT) is the turbulence, turbulent movement of air masses in the absence of any visual clues such as clouds, and is caused when bodies of air moving at widely different speeds meet. The atmospheric region mos ...

over

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

shortly after taking off from Tokyo International Airport, killing all 124 on board. * March 11 – A spa hotel caught fire in Minakami, Gunma

Prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

, causing 30 deaths, 29 injuries, according to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report. * March 25 – Hachinohe Rinkai Line was opened. *April 1 - Japan switches to the

Metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...

. *April 26 - Japan's biggest postwar public transportation strike. *June 28 – Typhoon Kit hit eastern Honshu, kills 83 persons, hnjures 91 persons, according to Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed reported. *June 30 &ndash； July 2 &ndash； A first

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

concert show in

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The Budokan was a popular venue for Japanese professional wres ...

Chiyoda, Tokyo , known as Chiyoda City in English,
." ''City of Chiyoda''. Retrieved on December 28, 2008. is a S ...

, *August 22 – Frontier Tea Product Manufacturing, as predecessor of

Ito En () is a Japanese multinational drinks company specializing in tea production, distribution, and sales. Ito En is the largest green tea distributor in Japan. The Ito En Group includes subsidiaries based in Japan, the United States, Australia, Si ...

founded in Shizuoka City. *September 25 – Two typhoons Helen and Ida landed in Japan on same days, according to

Japanese government The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary state, containing forty- ...

official confirmed report, total 317 persons were human fatalities with 824 persons were hurt. *November 11 - All Nippon Airways Flight 533 crashes into the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...

, killing all 50 on board. *Undated ** Yamanashi Women's Junior College is founded. **Japanese birth rates plummeted due to the superstition that girls born in the year of the Fire Horse will grow up to kill their husbands.

Births

* January 5 - Yuri Amano, voice actress * January 17 - Jyoji Morikawa, author and illustrator * January 17 - Hiroko Mita, actress * January 28 -

Seiji Mizushima is a Japanese anime director who is known for such series as ''Shaman King'', ''Fullmetal Alchemist (TV series), Fullmetal Alchemist'', ''Mobile Suit Gundam 00'', ''Un-Go'', ''Concrete Revolutio'', and ''Beatless''. His first directorial film pr ...

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

director * January 31 - Nobuyuki Hoshino, former professional baseball pitcher * February 4 - Kyōko Koizumi, actress and singer * February 5 - Maiko Kawakami, actress * March 7 -

Atsushi Sakurai was a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band Buck-Tick from 1985 until his death in 2023. Initially joining as their drummer in 1983, Sakurai fronted the band for 38 years and 2 ...

, singer (

Buck-Tick Buck-Tick (stylized as BUCK-TICK) is a Japanese rock band formed in Fujioka, Gunma in 1983. The classic lineup of lead vocalist Atsushi Sakurai, lead guitarist Hisashi Imai, rhythm guitarist Hidehiko Hoshino, bassist Yutaka Higuchi and drum ...

) (died

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

) * April 3 - Mina Tominaga, voice actress * April 19 - El Samurai, professional wrestler * April 27 -

Yoshihiro Togashi is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age, before being recognized for his talent by the publishing company Shueisha while attending college. Togashi has authored several different manga series in different Literary ge ...

, author and illustrator * June 26 -

Yūko Minaguchi is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator from Bunkyō, Tokyo. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. In 2012, Minaguchi took a nineteen-month-long hiatus from acting in order to study abroad in the United States. This resulted in Sh ...

, voice actress * July 11 - Kentaro Miura, manga artist (died

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

) * July 15 -

Masatoshi Nagase is a Japanese actor and singer. He is best known in the West for his roles in Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's ''Cold Fever'' and Jim Jarmusch's ''Mystery Train (film), Mystery Train''. Nagase was described by Todd Brown of Twitch Film as "one of t ...

, actress * July 25 -

Wataru Takagi is a Japanese actor and voice actor from Chiba Prefecture. He is affiliated with Arts Vision. He is best known for his roles in ''One Piece'' (as Bellamy), ''Bleach'' (as Ganju Shiba), ''Detective Conan'' (as Genta Kojima and Wataru Takagi) ...

, voice actor * July 28 - Shikao Suga, singer * August 4 -

Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his numerous runs in the top three Japanese wrestling promotions; New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and Pro Wrestling Noah. He was the founder and o ...

, professional wrestler * August 14 -

Honami Suzuki is a Japanese actress. Career Suzuki began acting after high school and debuted at age 19 in the television drama ''Asobi Ja Nai No Yo, Kono Koi Wa'' (TBS, 1986). Her breakthrough came in 1991 with the role of Rika in the Fuji TV television ad ...

, actress * August 30 - Mikako Kotani, former synchronised swimming athlete * September 2 - Yu Hayami, singer and actress * September 11 -

Kiko, Crown Princess of Japan (born ; 11 September 1966), is married to Fumihito, Crown Prince of Japan. Her husband is the younger brother and heir presumptive of Emperor Naruhito and the second son of Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko. Kiko earned ...

, wife of

Fumihito, Crown Prince of Japan is the heir presumptive to the Emperor of Japan, Japanese throne. He is the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito, and the younger son of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. Since his marriage in June 1990, he has had the title and has headed t ...

* October 8 - Toshiro Yufune, former professional baseball pitcher * October 27 -

Masanobu Takashima is a Japanese film and television actor. Career Takashima appeared as Daisuke Matoba in the 2008 film '' L: Change the World'' (also known as ''Death Note: L Change the World'') (2008). Staff writer (undated"News Headline"(in Japanese language ...

, actor * October 31 -

Koji Kanemoto is a Japanese professional wrestler of Zainichi Korean descent. He has previously worked with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. He is currently a freelancer. Professional wrestling career Kanemoto practiced Judo during his hig ...

, professional wrestler * November 2 - Yoshinari Ogawa, professional wrestler * November 6 - Kae Araki, voice actress * November 13 - Mieharu, actor * November 28 - Narumi Yasuda, actress * December 12 -

Último Dragón , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler signed to Dragon Gate (wrestling), Dragon Gate, where he acts as an in-ring talent, trainer and senior advisor. In addition to having trained in Japan, ...

, professional wrestler * December 17 - Yuko Arimori, former marathon runner * December 22 - Sayuri Kokusho, actress * December 27 - Masahiro Fukuda, former footballer

Deaths

* January 10 -

Nishizō Tsukahara , was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Biography Tsukahara was born in Fukui Prefecture, but his official residence was Kofu, Yamanashi, Kofu city, Yamanashi Prefecture, where he was raised. Tsukahara graduated from ...

, admiral (b.

1887 Events January * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the United States Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

) * March 6 - Michitaro Totsuka, admiral (b.

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

) * April 23 - George Ohsawa, dietist, founder of

Macrobiotics A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is an unconventional restrictive diet based on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism. The diet tries to balance the supposed yin and yang elements of food and cookware. Major principles of macrobio ...

(b. 1893)Michio Kushi & Alex Jack (2003) ''Diet for a Strong Heart: Michio Kushi's Macrobiotic Dietary Guidelines'', St. Martin's Griffin. * June 7 - Yoshishige Abe, philosopher and politician (b.

1883 Events January * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * January 16 – ...

) * June 15 – Sankichi Takahashi, admiral (b.

1882 Events January * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in New York at the ...

) * July 12 - D.T. Suzuki, philosopher (b.

1870 Events January * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge be ...

) * September 12 - Aketo Nakamura, general (b.

1889 Events January * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the Dakotas ...

) * September 13 -

Tomoshige Samejima Vice Admiral Baron , was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Biography Samejima was the grandson of Iwakura Tomomi, and adopted by Admiral Samejima Kazunori a native of Satsuma Domain and noted figure in the Meiji re ...

, admiral (b.

) * November 9 -

Jisaburō Ozawa was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Ozawa held several important commands at sea throughout the duration of the conflict ( Southern Expeditionary Fleet, 3rd Fleet, 1st Mobile Fleet, and the Combined Fleet). Ozawa ...

, admiral (b.

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

) * November 14 - Zengo Yoshida, admiral (b. 1885)

References

{{Asia topic, 1966 in 1960s in Japan 1966 by country Years of the 20th century in Japan 1966 in Asia

Incumbents

Governors

Events

Births

Deaths

See also

References