Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/January/January 23
Events
- 829 - Buddhist monk Kūkai establishes a private school known as the Shugei Shuchi In. (Traditional Japanese Date: Fifteenth Day of the Twelfth Month, 828)
- 1337 - Emperor Godaigo leaves Kyoto for Yoshino where he sets up the Southern Court, beginning a 60 year era of rival imperial courts in Japan. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-first Day of the Twelfth Month, 1336)
- 1890 - The founder of Dōshisha University, Niijima Jō, dies at the age of 48.
- 1902 - The Aomori Infantry, Eighth Division begin their snow march toward Mt. Hakkoda. 199 soldiers die when a blizzard hits (known as the Snow March to Mt. Hakkoda).
- 1905 - The last remaining Japanese wolf is shot and killed at Mt. Yoshino.
- 1943 - World War II: Australian and American forces finally defeat the Japanese army in Papua. This turning point in the Pacific War marks the beginning of the end of Japanese aggression.
- 1949 - The appointment of supreme court justices by referendum is instituted.
- 1956 - Ishihara Shintaro's Season of the Sun wins the Akutagawa Prize, one of Japan's most prestigious literary awards.
- 1963 - A blizzard hits northwestern Japan (Hokuriku, Jōetsu and Shin’etsu), killing 178 people and injuring 288.
- 1984 - The Yuri 2a Broadcasting Satellite is launched.
Births
- 1828 - Saigō Takamori (d. 1877), samurai
- 1907 - Hideki Yukawa (d. 1981), physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1938 - Giant Baba (d. 1999), wrestler and promoter, founded All Japan Pro Wrestling
- 1954 - Fumiyo Kohinata, actor
- 1968 - Taro Hakase, musician and composer
- 1976 - Tsuyoshi Muro, actor
- 1986 - Gero, singer
- 1986 - Yukie Kawamura, model and actress
- 1992 - Reina Triendl, model