← 1951 1950 1949 1952 in Japan → 1953 1954 1955
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	Other events of 1952 History of Japan Timeline Years

Events in the year 1952 in Japan.

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito^[1]
• Prime Minister: Shigeru Yoshida
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Shigeru Hori until October 30, Taketora Ogata
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kōtarō Tanaka
• President of the House of Representatives: Jōji Hayashi until August 1, Banboku Ōno from August 26 to August 28 and from October 24
• President of the House of Councillors: Naotake Satō

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
• Akita Prefecture: Tokuji Ikeda
• Aomori Prefecture: Bunji Tsushima
• Chiba Prefecture: Hitoshi Shibata
• Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
• Fukui Prefecture: Harukazu Obata
• Fukuoka Prefecture: Katsuji Sugimoto
• Fukushima Prefecture: Sakuma Ootake
• Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto
• Gunma Prefecture: Yoshio Iyoku (until 4 July); Shigeo Kitano (starting 5 August)
• Hiroshima Prefecture: Hiroo Ōhara
• Hokkaido Prefecture: Toshifumi Tanaka
• Hyogo Prefecture: Yukio Kishida
• Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue
• Ishikawa Prefecture: Wakio Shibano
• Iwate Prefecture: Kenkichi Kokubun
• Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
• Kagoshima Prefecture: Kaku Shigenari
• Kanagawa Prefecture: Iwataro Uchiyama
• Kochi Prefecture: Wakaji Kawamura
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Saburō Sakurai
• Kyoto Prefecture: Atsushi Kimura
• Mie Prefecture: Masaru Aoki
• Miyagi Prefecture: Kazuji Sasaki (until 4 October); Otogorō Miyagi (starting 5 October)
• Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadao Annaka
• Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi
• Nagasaki Prefecture: Takejirō Nishioka
• Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
• Niigata Prefecture: Shohei Okada
• Oita Prefecture: Tokuju Hosoda
• Okayama Prefecture: Yukiharu Miki
• Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama
• Saga Prefecture: Naotsugu Nabeshima
• Saitama Prefecture: Yuuichi Oosawa
• Shiga Prefecture: Iwakichi Hattori
• Shiname Prefecture: Yasuo Tsunematsu
• Shizuoka Prefecture: Toshio Saitō
• Tochigi Prefecture: Goro Abe
• Tokushima Prefecture: Kuniichi Abe
• Tokyo Prefecture: Seiichirō Yasui
• Tottori Prefecture: Aiji Nishio
• Toyama Prefecture: Kunitake Takatsuji
• Wakayama Prefecture: Shinji Ono
• Yamagata Prefecture: Michio Murayama
• Yamaguchi Prefecture: Tatsuo Tanaka
• Yamanashi Prefecture: Hisashi Amano

Events

• March 4 – A Richer Scale magnitude 8.1 earthquake with tsunami hit off coast Tokachi region, Hokkaido, according to Japanese government official report, 33 persons were fatalities with 287 persons wounded.^{[page needed]}
• March 6 – The Musashino Bank (武蔵野銀行) was established in Saitama Prefecture.^[2]
• March 7 – A Richer Scale magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit off coast Ishikawa Prefecture, seven persons died, eight persons were hurt, according to Japanese government official report.^[3]
• April 10 – According to Japan Transport Ministry official confirmed report, Japan Airlines Flight 301 crash into Izu Ōshima, all 37 passengers and crew were killed.^[4]
• April 17 – According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, a massive fire in Tottori City, resulting to 160 hectares (395 acres), total 7,240 houses and building damage, kills two persons.^[5]
• April 28 - Treaty of San Francisco goes into effect, ending the Allied occupation of Japan.
• July 18 – A Richer Scale magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit in Takatori, Nara Prefecture, nine persons were fatalities, with 139 persons hurt, according to Japanese government official report.^{[page needed]}
• September 23 – According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a Kaiyō-maru five entrained by the eruption into Myōjin-shō, all 31 crew were human fatalities.^{[citation needed]}
• October 1 - 1952 Japanese general election

• 
  Tidal wave damage of the 1952 Tokachi earthquake on March 4.
• 
  Aftermath of the crash Japan Airlines Flight 301 in Izu Oshima on April 10.
• 
  Houses and other buildings in the 1952 Tottori Fire on April 17.

Films

• The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice

Births

• January 2 - Makoto Nakajima, bureaucrat, Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office
• January 17 - Ryuichi Sakamoto, musician, composer, producer and actor (Yellow Magic Orchestra) (d. 2023)
• January 28 - Tomokazu Miura, actor
• February 2 - Ryuji Mizuno, voice actor (d. 2022)^[6]
• February 3 - Miyako Yamaguchi
• February 8 - Daisuke Gōri, voice actor (d. 2010)
• February 19 – Ryū Murakami, novelist, short story writer, essayist and filmmaker
• February 23 – Miyuki Nakajima, singer
• March 30 – Kazuyo Saeki, manga artist (d. 2021)
• April 10 – Masashi Sada, singer, lyricist, composer, novelist, actor, and a film producer
• May 2 – Mari Natsuki, singer, dancer and actress
• May 18 - Ryūzaburō Ōtomo, voice actor
• June 9 - Yukihiro Takahashi, musician and singer (Yellow Magic Orchestra) (d. 2023)
• June 20 - Kōichi Mashimo, anime director
• July 10 – Yōko Asagami, voice actress
• July 14 – Yutaka Mizutani, actor and singer
• July 15 - Yuriko Koike, politician, cabinet minister and governor of Tokyo.
• July 20 - Keiko Matsuzaka, actress
• July 2 – Rumiko Koyanagi, actress and singer
• November 16 - Shigeru Miyamoto, game designer
• December 6 - Shio Satō, Manga artist (d. 2010)
• Shinichi Nishimiya, diplomat, designated Ambassador to China in 2012.

Deaths

• April 21 - Isamu Yokoyama
• August 22 - Hiranuma Kiichirō
• October 7 - Keisuke Okada