← 1968 1967 1966 1969 in Japan → 1970 1971 1972
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
See also:	Other events of 1969 History of Japan Timeline Years

Events in the year 1969 in Japan.

Incumbents

• Emperor: Hirohito^[1]
• Prime Minister: Eisaku Satō (Liberal Democratic)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Shigeru Hori
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Masatoshi Yokota until January 10, Kazuto Ishida from January 11
• President of the House of Representatives: Mitsujirō Ishii until July 16, Takechiyo Matsuda from December 3 to December 27
• President of the House of Councillors: Yūzō Shigemune

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture: Mikine Kuwahara
• Akita Prefecture: Yūjirō Obata
• Aomori Prefecture: Shunkichi Takeuchi
• Chiba Prefecture: Taketo Tomonō
• Ehime Prefecture: Sadatake Hisamatsu
• Fukui Prefecture: Heidayū Nakagawa
• Fukuoka Prefecture: Hikaru Kamei
• Fukushima Prefecture: Morie Kimura
• Gifu Prefecture: Saburō Hirano
• Gunma Prefecture: Konroku Kanda
• Hiroshima Prefecture: Iduo Nagano
• Hokkaido: Kingo Machimura
• Hyogo Prefecture: Motohiko Kanai
• Ibaraki Prefecture: Nirō Iwakami
• Ishikawa Prefecture: Yōichi Nakanishi
• Iwate Prefecture: Tadashi Chida
• Kagawa Prefecture: Masanori Kaneko
• Kagoshima Prefecture: Saburō Kanemaru
• Kanagawa Prefecture: Bunwa Tsuda
• Kochi Prefecture: Masumi Mizobuchi
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Kōsaku Teramoto
• Kyoto Prefecture: Torazō Ninagawa
• Mie Prefecture: Satoru Tanaka
• Miyagi Prefecture: Shintaro Takahashi (until 27 March); Sōichirō Yamamoto (starting 28 March)
• Miyazaki Prefecture: Hiroshi Kuroki
• Nagano Prefecture: Gon'ichirō Nishizawa
• Nagasaki Prefecture: Katsuya Sato
• Nara Prefecture: Ryozo Okuda
• Niigata Prefecture: Shiro Watari
• Oita Prefecture: Kaoru Kinoshita
• Okayama Prefecture: Takenori Kato
• Osaka Prefecture: Gisen Satō
• Saga Prefecture: Sunao Ikeda
• Saitama Prefecture: Hiroshi Kurihara
• Shiga Prefecture: Kinichiro Nozaki
• Shiname Prefecture: Choemon Tanabe
• Shizuoka Prefecture: Yūtarō Takeyama
• Tochigi Prefecture: Nobuo Yokokawa
• Tokushima Prefecture: Yasunobu Takeichi
• Tokyo: Ryōkichi Minobe
• Tottori Prefecture: Jirō Ishiba
• Toyama Prefecture: Minoru Yoshida (until 1 December); Kokichi Nakada (starting 30 December)
• Wakayama Prefecture: Masao Ohashi
• Yamagata Prefecture: Tōkichi Abiko
• Yamaguchi Prefecture: Masayuki Hashimoto
• Yamanashi Prefecture: Kunio Tanabe

Events

• January 5 - According to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, a bulk carrier Boriba Maru capsized off Nojimazaki Lighthouse, Chiba Prefecture, 31 crew were fatalities.^[2]
• January 18 to 19 - According to Japan National Police Agency official confirmed report, a fierce battle between riot police unit and extreme and core university students in Yasuda Auditorium, Tokyo University, during the 1968–69 Japanese university protests. A total of 457 students were arrested and 757 injured.^[3]
• February 5 - A resort hotel fire in Bandai-Atami Spa, Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, according to Fire and Disaster Management Agency, official confirmed report, 30 persons lost their lives, with 35 persons injured.^[4]
• April 3- According to JFDMA official confirmed report, a gas explosion hit Moshiri coal mine in Akabira, Hokkaido, official resulting death toll is 19 persons, with 24 persons hurt. This mine officially shut down on April 30.^{[page needed]}
• May 16 – Senon Security Service was founded, as predecessor name of FarEastern Security Service.^[5]
• June 24 to July 11 - According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, a torrential rain, following landslide hit in Kagoshima Prefecture and Miyazaki Prefecture, this natural disaster total death number of 89 person.^{[page needed]}
• October 1 - The National Space Development Agency of Japan is established.
• December 1 - Sumitomo Bank introduces Japan's first ATM.
• December 27 - 1969 Japanese general election - Liberal Democratic Party win 47.6% of popular vote, Yoshirō Mori, Tsutomu Hata and Ichirō Ozawa all elected for first time

Births

• January 27 - Cornelius, rock musician, singer and producer (Flipper's Guitar)
• January 29 - Hyde, rock musician, singer and guitarist
• February 6 – Masaharu Fukuyama, singer-songwriter and actor
• February 11 – Takeshi Obata, manga artist
• February 20 - Keiji Takayama, professional wrestler
• March 12 - Akemi Okamura, voice actress
• March 15 - Yutaka Take, jockey
• March 29 - Chiaki Ishikawa, singer See-Saw
• April 11 - Chisato Moritaka, singer
• April 18 - Sayako Kuroda, formerly Sayako, Princess Nori, daughter of Emperor Akihito
• May 15 - Hideki Irabu, baseball player
• May 18 – Noriyuki Makihara, singer-songwriter
• June 4 - Takako Minekawa, musician, composer and writer
• June 29 - Tōru Hashimoto, politician, lawyer, mayor of Osaka city and former leader of the Japan Innovation Party
• July 8 - Sugizo, guitarist and singer
• July 18 - Masanori Murakawa, professional wrestler
• August 8 - Dick Togo, professional wrestler
• August 13 - Midori Ito, figure skater
• September 12 - Shigeki Maruyama, golfer
• October 2 - Jun Akiyama, professional wrestler
• October 3
  • Yuriko Ishida, actress and essayist
  • Tetsuya, musician
• October 14 - Kōsuke Okano, voice actor
• November 17 - Ryōtarō Okiayu, voice actor
• November 20 - Sakura, musician
• December 13 - Hideo Ishikawa, voice actor
• December 20
  • Chisa Yokoyama, voice actress
  • Kenji Ogiwara, former nordic combined skier
  • Tsugiharu Ogiwara, former nordic combined skier
• December 24
  • Taro Goto, footballer
  • Ryuji Kato, footballer
  • Miyuki Matsushita, voice actress
  • Mariko Shiga, voice actress (d. 1989)

Deaths

• April 26 - Morihei Ueshiba, martial artist and founder of Aikido (b. 1883)
• June 1 - Michiyo Tsujimura, agricultural scientist (b. 1888)
• July 9 - Raizō Tanaka, admiral (b. 1892)
• July 17 - Ichikawa Raizō VIII, actor (b. 1931)