← 1938 1937 1936 1939 in Japan → 1940 1941 1942
Decades:	1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s
See also:	Other events of 1939 History of Japan  • Timeline  • Years

Events in the year 1939 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 14 (昭和14年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito^[1]
• Prime Minister: Fumimaro Konoe until January 5, then Nobuyuki Abe

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture: Kotaro Tanaka
• Akita Prefecture: Kaoru Sasaki (until 11 January); Yukio Tomeoka (starting 11 January)
• Aomori Prefecture: Masanori Ogawa (until 1 March); Noburo Suzuki (starting 1 March)
• Ehime Prefecture: Shizuo Furukawa (until 15 July); Yoshio Mochinaga (starting 15 July)
• Fukui Prefecture: Nakano Yoshiro (until 14 April); Kiyoshi Kimura (starting 14 April)
• Fukuoka Prefecture: Kyuichi Kodama (starting 1940)
• Fukushima Prefecture: Seikichi Kimishima (until 5 September); Seikichi Hashimoto (starting 5 September)
• Gifu Prefecture: Miyano Shozo
• Gunma Prefecture: Shozo Tsuchiya (until 17 April); Kumano Ei (starting 17 April)
• Hiroshima Prefecture: Ichisho Inuma (until 5 September); Katsuroku Aikawa (starting 5 September)
• Ibaraki Prefecture: Shigeru Hamaza (until 11 January); Tokitsugi Yoshinaga (starting 11 January)
• Ishikawa Prefecture: Masasuke Kodama then Narita Ichiro
• Iwate Prefecture: Chiyoji Yukizawa
• Kagawa Prefecture: Nagatoshi Fujioka
• Kanagawa Prefecture: Seiichi Ōmura then Ichisho Inuma
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Tomoichi Koyama
• Kochi Prefecture: Fujioka Nagawa (until 17 April); Shunsuke Kondo (starting 17 April)
• Kyoto Prefecture: Tota Akamatsuko
• Mie Prefecture: Masatoshi Sato (until 3 January); Masanari Ogawa (starting 1 March)
• Miyagi Prefecture: Ryosaku Shimizu
• Miyazaki Prefecture:
  • until 12 April: Jiro Ino
  • 12 April-7 September: Kyuichiro Totsuka
  • starting 7 September: Ryosaku Shimizu
• Nagano Prefecture: Tomita Kenji
• Nagasaki Prefecture: Jitsuzo Kawanishi
• Niigata Prefecture: Yasujiro Nakamura (until 5 September); Seikichi Kimishima (starting 5 September)
• Okinawa Prefecture: Fusataro Fuchigami
• Saga Prefecture: Tomoichi Koyama (until 17 April); Kato (starting 17 April)
• Saitama Prefecture: Toki Ginjiro
• Shiname Prefecture: Kyuichi Kodama (until 9 April); ... (starting 9 April)
• Tochigi Prefecture: Adachi Shuuritsu
• Tokyo: Okada Shuzo
• Toyama Prefecture: Kenzo Yano
• Yamagata Prefecture: Takei Yoshitsugu (until 17 April); Ishiguro Takeshige (starting 17 April)

Events

• February - Hainan Island Operation
• March - Battle of Xiushui River
• March 1 – According to Japanese government official confirmed report, Japanese Imperial Army ammunition dump explode in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, 94 persons were human fatalities, 602 persons were hurt.^{[citation needed]}
• March 17-May 9 - Battle of Nanchang
• April 20-May 24 - Battle of Suixian–Zaoyang
• May 11-September 16 - Battles of Khalkhin Gol
• June - Swatow Operation
• June 1 –Nippon Electric Works and Showa Fertilizer were merger, becomes name was Showa Denko.^{[citation needed]}
• September 13-October 8 - Battle of Changsha (1939)
• Unknown date – Mukogawa Higher Women's School was founded, as predecessor of Mukogawa Women's University.^{[citation needed]}

Births

• February 9 – Tadahiro Matsushita, politician (d. 2012)
• February 17 – Toshihiro Nikai, politician
• March 2 – Takako, Princess Suga, youngest child of Emperor Shōwa
• April 9 – Ikuko Tani, actress, voice actress and narrator
• August 13 – Shijaku Katsura, rakugo performer (d. 1999)
• September 22 – Junko Tabei, mountaineer, first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest (d. 2016)

Deaths

• February 18 – Kanoko Okamoto, author, poet, and Buddhist scholar (b. 1889)
• March 29 – Michizō Tachihara, poet and architect (b. 1914)
• September 7 – Kyōka Izumi, novelist and Kabuki playwright (b. 1873)
• November 11 – Kagaku Murakami, painter and illustrator (b. 1888)
• December 25 – Masao Nakamura, major general (b. 1892)