1979 in Japan

← 1978 1977 1976 1979 in Japan → 1980 1981 1982
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	Other events of 1979 List of years in Japan

Events in the year 1979 in Japan.

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa)
• Prime Minister: Masayoshi Ōhira (L–Kagawa, 2nd term from November 9)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Rokusuke Tanaka (L–Fukuoka) until November 9, Masayoshi Itō (L–Fukushima)
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Masao Okahara until March 31, Takaaki Hattori from April 2
• President of the House of Representatives: Shigeru Hori (L–Saga) until February 1, Hirokichi Nadao (L–Hiroshima) until September 7 and again from October 30
• President of the House of Councillors: Ken Yasui (L–Tokyo)
• Diet sessions: 87th (regular session opened in December 1978, to May 14), 88th (extraordinary, August 30 to September 7), 89th (special, October 30 to November 16), 90th (extraordinary, November 26 to December 11), 91st (regular, December 21 to 1980, May 19)

Events

• June 28 – 29 – 5th G7 summit held in Tokyo.
• July 1 – Sony Walkman goes on sale.
• October 7 – Japanese general election, 1979
• October 19 – 13 US Marines die in fire at Camp Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, caused by Typhoon Tip.

Popular culture

Arts and entertainment

In film, Vengeance Is Mine by Shōhei Imamura won the Best film award at the Japan Academy Prize, at the Blue Ribbon Awards and at the Mainichi Film Award, Taiyō o Nusunda Otoko by Kazuhiko Hasegawa won Best film at the Yokohama Film Festival and at the Hochi Film Awards. For a list of Japanese films released in 1979 see Japanese films of 1979.

In manga, the winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award were Doza no Ippon Tsuri by Yusuke Aoyagi (general) and Toward the Terra and Kaze to Ki no Uta by Keiko Takemiya (shōnen or shōjo). Tonda Couple by Kimio Yanagisawa (shōnen) and The Star of Cottonland by Yumiko Ōshima (shōjo) won the Kodansha Manga Award. For a list of manga released in 1979 see Category:1979 manga.

In music, the 30th Kōhaku Uta Gassen was won by the Red Team (women). Hideki Saijo won the FNS Music Festival and Judy Ongg won the 21st Japan Record Award.

In television, see: 1979 in Japanese television.

Japan hosted the Miss International 1979 beauty pageant, won by Filipina Melanie Marquez.

Sports

In athletics (track and field) Japan hosted the Asian Championships and was first in the medal table with 20 gold medals and a total of 59 medals.

In baseball Hiroshima Carp won the Japan Series.

In basketball Japan hosted the ABC Championship and won the second place behind China.

In football (soccer) Japan hosted the FIFA World Youth Championship, won by Argentina. Fujita Engineering won the Japan Soccer League. For the champions of the regional leagues see: 1979 Japanese Regional Leagues. For more see: 1979 in Japanese football.

Births

• January 1: Koichi Domoto, idol and singer
• January 3: Rie Tanaka, voice actress
• January 7: Yōko Honna, voice actress
• January 9: Tomiko Van, singer (Do As Infinity)
• January 17: Masae Ueno, judoka
• January 18: Sachiko Kojima, voice actress
• February 2: Yuichi Tsuchiya, actor
• February 19: Miki Furukawa, musician
• March 8: Jasmine You, musician (died 2009)
• March 26: Hiromi Uehara, jazz composer and pianist
• April 4: Bunko Kanazawa, AV idol
• April 10: Tsuyoshi Domoto, entertainer (KinKi Kids)
• April 18: Yusuke Kamiji, actor
• May 14: Jun Ideguchi, football player
• May 28: Atsushi Nomi, baseball pitcher
• May 30: Rie Kugimiya, voice actress and singer
• June 9: Ryoko Kuninaka, actress and singer
• June 18: Yumiko Kobayashi, voice actress
• June 23: Shigeki Tsujimoto, football player
• July 3: Sayuri Katayama, actress, singer and lyricist
• July 16
  • Mai Nakamura, backstroke swimmer
  • Kinya Kotani, singer
• July 21: Haruki Mizuno, AV and gravure idol
• July 26: Yukihiro Aoba, football player
• July 29: Kurumi Morishita, adult video actress
• August 7: Seiji Koga, football player
• August 8: Azumi Kawashima, AV idol
• August 13: Taizō Sugimura, politician
• August 28: Yuki Maeda, singer
• September 18: Ryu Saito, football player
• September 26: Naomichi Marufuji, professional wrestler
• September 27: Shinji Ono, football player
• September 30: Yuta Minami, football player
• October 3: Yuri Ebihara, model and actress
• October 6: Emi Naito, softball player
• October 12: Rie Tomosaka, actress and popstar
• October 18: Hikaru Kawamura, gravure idol
• October 19: Hiromi Yanagihara, J-pop singer (died 1999)
• October 30: Yukie Nakama, actress, singer, and idol
• November 1: Atsuko Enomoto, voice actress
• November 15: Aki Nawa, ten-pin bowler
• November 24: Sachiyo Shibata, kickboxer
• November 26: Tetsuya Oishi, football player
• November 29: Shosei Koda, terrorism victim (died 2004)
• December 7
  • Hirokazu Otsubo, football player
  • Ayako Fujitani, actress
• December 9
  • Aiko Uemura, freestyle skier
  • Olivia Lufkin, singer-songwriter
• December 23: Yukifumi Murakami, javelin thrower
• December 25: Tatsuya Ishikawa, football player
• December 26: Kazuhiko Ikematsu, wrestler
• December 29: Moe Oshikiri, model

Unknown date

• Junji Shiotsu, installation artist

Deaths

• January 12: Shunsaku Kudō, Imperial Japanese Navy officer
• January 29: Yusuke Hagihara, astronomer
• February 24: Yoshie Shiratori, murderer
• March 25: Akinoumi Setsuo, sumo wrestler
• March 26: Iwao Matsuda, senior officer in the Imperial Japanese army
• April 17: Yukio Tsuda, football player
• May 23: Hiroshi Ohshita, professional baseball player
• May 29: Eddie Imazu, art director
• July 8: Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, physicist
• July 20: Shōji Yamagishi, photography critic, curator, and magazine editor
• July 27: Sōkichi Takagi, admiral and political figure
• August 24: Shigeharu Nakano, author and Communist Party politician
• August 25: Sōgen Asahina, Rinzai zen master
• September 17: Mitsuru Yoshida, author and naval officer
• September 30: Shiina Etsusaburo, foreign minister of Japan from 1964 to 1966
• October 22: Mieko Kamiya, psychiatrist
• November 16: Ichirō Saitō, film composer
• December 25: Kenji Tomiki, aikido and judo teacher