1963 in Japan

Decades:	1940s; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s;
See also:	Other events of 1963; History of Japan • Timeline • Years

Events in the year 1963 in Japan.

Incumbents

Emperor: Hirohito^[1]
Prime Minister: Hayato Ikeda (Liberal Democratic)
Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yasumi Kurogane
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
President of the House of Representatives: Ichirō Kiyose until October 23, Naka Funada from December 7
President of the House of Councillors: Yūzō Shigemune

Governors

Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
Aomori Prefecture: Iwao Yamazaki (until 26 January); Shunkichi Takeuchi (starting 2 March)
Chiba Prefecture: Hisaaki Kano (until 21 February); Taketo Tomonō (starting 17 April)
Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
Fukui Prefecture: Eizō Kita
Fukuoka Prefecture: Taichi Uzaki
Fukushima Prefecture: Zenichiro Satō
Gifu Prefecture: Yukiyasu Matsuno
Gunma Prefecture: Konroku Kanda
Hiroshima Prefecture: Iduo Nagano
Hokkaido: Kingo Machimura
Hyogo Prefecture: Motohiko Kanai
Ibaraki Prefecture: Nirō Iwakami
Ishikawa Prefecture: Jūjitsu Taya (until 19 February); Yōichi Nakanishi (starting 20 February)
Iwate Prefecture: Senichi Abe (until 29 April); Tadashi Chida (starting 30 April)
Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
Kagoshima Prefecture: Katsushi Terazono
Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama
Kochi Prefecture: Masumi Mizobuchi
Kumamoto Prefecture: Kōsaku Teramoto
Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
Mie Prefecture: Satoru Tanaka
Miyagi Prefecture: Yoshio Miura
Miyazaki Prefecture: Hiroshi Kuroki
Nagano Prefecture: Gon'ichirō Nishizawa
Nagasaki Prefecture: Katsuya Sato
Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
Niigata Prefecture: Juichiro Tsukada
Oita Prefecture: Kaoru Kinoshita
Okayama Prefecture: Yukiharu Miki
Osaka Prefecture: Gisen Satō
Saga Prefecture: Sunao Ikeda
Saitama Prefecture: Hiroshi Kurihara
Shiga Prefecture: Kyujiro Taniguchi
Shiname Prefecture: Choemon Tanabe
Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
Tochigi Prefecture: Nobuo Yokokawa
Tokushima Prefecture: Kikutaro Hara
Tokyo: 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

A recordable snowfall in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, in January 1963

January and February - 1963 Snowstorm in Japan, a heavy snowstorm with blizzard, following avalanche hit in northeastern Honshu, according to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency confirmed report, 231 people lost their lives, 356 people were wounded.^[2]
February 10 - Five cities on northernmost part of Kyushu merge to become city of Kitakyushu
February 26 - According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a passenger ship Tokiwa Maru sank by collision with logistic ship Richmond Maru off Kobe Port, Hyogo Prefecture, total 47 passengers and crew were fatalities.^{[page needed]}
April 19 – Amataro Sweets Teahouse, as predecessor of Colowide Restaurant Group, founded in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture.^[3]
May 1 - Sayama Incident
May 21 - Establishment of the Seppiko-Mineyama Prefectural Natural Park
July 15 - Establishment of the Sanin Kaigan National Park
July 24 - Establishment of the Chōkai Quasi-National Park
August 8 - Establishment of the Zaō Quasi-National Park
September 14 - Tokyo Convention
November 9 - Mitsui Miike Coal Mine disaster - coal mine explosion kills 458.
November 9 - Tsurumi rail accident - 161 deaths result from triple train disaster in Yokohama
November 11 – Tokyo Electron was founded.^{[citation needed]}
November 21 - General election - Liberal Democratic Party win 283 out of 467 seats.
December 7 - Decision on the Ryuichi Shimoda v. The State case

Educational institutions established

Buildings and structures

February 28 - Opening of Higashi-ginza Station
November 20 - Commissioning of Otori Dam

Culture

March 1 - Establishment of the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto

Arts and entertainment

For events in anime, see 1963 in anime. For Japanese films released this year, see List of Japanese films of 1963. For events in television, see 1963 in Japanese television.

April 1 - First issue of Boy's Life magazine
September 6 - Establishment of Crown Records record label
First issue of Margaret magazine^[4]
Establishment of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra

Sports

In association football, see 1963 in Japanese football. The 1963 Emperor's Cup was won by Waseda University.

In baseball, see 1963 Nippon Professional Baseball season and 1963 Japan Series.

In motorsport, the first Japanese Grand Prix took place at the Suzuka Circuit.

In tennis, Japan was defeated in the Eastern zone final by India in the 1963 Davis Cup.

Establishment of the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.

Births

January 10 - Tarō Kōno, politician
January 30 - Shōko Tsuda, voice actress
March 14 - Mahiro Maeda, animator
March 16 - Eiji Aonuma, game designer
March 20 - Hiroshi Watari, actor of 1983 Space Sheriff Series Uchuu Keiji Sharivan & 1986 Metal Hero Jikuu Senshi Spielban
March 24 - Keiichi Wada, actor of 1993 Super Sentai Gosei Sentai Dairanger as Fire Star/Ryou
March 26 - Natsuhiko Kyogoku, writer
March 28 - Chieko Honda, voice actress (d. 2013)
April 27 – Sadaaki Yoshimura, former professional baseball player
May 5 – Kimiyasu Kudo, professional baseball coach and former pitcher
May 12 - Toshiya Fuji, actor of 1990 Super Sentai of Last 80's and 90's Super Sentai Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman as Five Red/Gaku Hoshikawa.
May 29 - Ukyo Katayama, racing driver
August 7 - Hiroaki Hirata, voice actor
August 8
- Rica Fukami, voice actress
- Emi Shinohara, voice actress (d. 2024)
August 9 - Zentarō Watanabe, music producer (d. 2021)
August 24 - Hideo Kojima, video-game director
September 17 - Masahiro Chono, professional wrestler
September 21 - Mamoru Samuragochi
October 12 - Satoshi Kon, anime director (d. 2010)
November 23 - Yoshino Takamori, voice actress
December 8 - Toshiaki Kawada, professional wrestler
December 9 – Empress Masako, empress of Japan^[5]
December 12 - Ai Orikasa, voice actress and singer
December 18 - Rikiya Koyama, voice actor
December 22 - Luna H. Mitani, Surrealist painter

Deaths

February 18 - Tokugawa Iemasa, politician, 17th head of former Tokugawa shogunate (b. 1884)
April 14 - Kodō Nomura, novelist and music critic (b. 1882)
June 11 - Yuzo Kawashima, film director (b. 1918)
September 15 - Gyosaku Morozumi, general (b. 1884)
December 2 - Nobutsuna Sasaki, tanka poet (b. 1872)
December 10 - Yōko Ōta, writer (b. 1906)
December 12 - Yasujirō Ozu, filmmaker (b. 1903)

References

^ "Hirohito | Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
^ ja:昭和38年豪雪 (Japanese language) Retrieved date on 27 October 2017.
^ ja:コロワイド#歴史 (Japanese language edition) Retrieved on 9 May 2020.
^ "The Rose of Versailles Manga Returns After 40 Years in New 1-Shot". Anime News Network. 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
^ "Masako | Facts, Biography, & Children". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 23 November 2020.

[1] "Hirohito | Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.

[2] :昭和38年豪雪 (Japanese language) Retrieved date on 27 October 2017.

[3] :コロワイド#歴史 (Japanese language edition) Retrieved on 9 May 2020.

[4] "The Rose of Versailles Manga Returns After 40 Years in New 1-Shot". Anime News Network. 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2014-08-24.

[5] "Masako | Facts, Biography, & Children". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 23 November 2020.

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