1940 in Japan

Events in the year 1940 in Japan. It corresponds to Shōwa 15 (昭和15年) in the Japanese calendar.

Incumbents

File:Founding Ceremony of the Hakko-Ichiu Monument.JPG's calligraphy of Hakkō ichiu, carved on its front side.David C. Earhart, Certain Victory, 2008, p. 63.]]

Emperor: Hirohito{{cite web |title=Hirohito {{!}} Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hirohito |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=27 March 2019 |language=en}}
Prime Minister:
Nobuyuki Abe, until January 16,
Mitsumasa Yonai, until July 22,
Fumimaro Konoe, from July 22

=Governors=

Aichi Prefecture: Kotaro Tanaka (until 9 April); Kodama Kyuichi (starting 9 April)
Akita Prefecture: Yukio Tomeoka (until 24 July); Fumi (starting 24 July)
Aomori Prefecture: Noburo Suzuki (until 24 July); Seiichi Ueda (starting 24 July)
Ehime Prefecture: Yoshio Mochinaga (until 24 July); Susumu Nakamura Noriyuki (starting 24 July)
Fukui Prefecture: Kiyoshi Kimura (until 14 April); Kubota (starting 14 April)
Fukuoka Prefecture: Kyuichi Kodama
Fukushima Prefecture: Seikichi Hashimoto (until 24 December); Sumio Hisakawa (starting 24 December)
Gifu Prefecture: Miyano Shozo
Gunma Prefecture: Kumano Ei (until 20 October); Susukida Yoshitomo (starting 20 October)
Hiroshima Prefecture: Katsuroku Aikawa
Ibaraki Prefecture: Tokitsugi Yoshinaga
Ishikawa Prefecture: Narita Ichiro (until month unknown)
Iwate Prefecture: Chiyoji Yukizawa (until 10 April); Yoshifumi Yamauchi (starting 10 April)
Kagawa Prefecture: Nagatoshi Fujioka (until 9 April); Osamu Eianhyaku (starting 9 April)
Kanagawa Prefecture: Ichisho Inuma then Mitsuma Matsumura
Kumamoto Prefecture: Tomoichi Koyama
Kochi Prefecture: Kondo Shunsuke (until 9 April); Chioji Yukisawa (starting 9 April)
Kyoto Prefecture: Tota Akamatsuko (until April); Jitsuzo Kawanishi (starting April)
Mie Prefecture: Masatoshi Sato (until 4 April); Yoshiro Nakano (starting 4 April)
Miyagi Prefecture: Ryosaku Shimizu (until 4 April); Nobuo Hayashin (starting 4 April)
Miyazaki Prefecture: Jitsuzo Kawanishi (until month unknown)
Nagano Prefecture: Tomita Kenji (until 22 July); Nagoya Osamu (starting 22 July)
Nagasaki Prefecture: Jitsuzo Kawanishi
Niigata Prefecture: Seikichi Kimishima (until 9 April); Yasui Seiichiro (starting 9 April)
Okinawa Prefecture: Fusataro Fuchigami
Saga Prefecture: Kato (until 9 April); Masaki (starting 9 April)
Saitama Prefecture: Toki Ginjiro
Shiname Prefecture: Kiyoo Ebe (until 23 December); Yasuo Otsubo (starting 23 December)
Tochigi Prefecture: Adachi Shuuritsu (until 8 April); Saburo Yamagata (starting 8 April)
Tokyo: Okada Shuzo
Toyama Prefecture: Kenzo Yano
Yamagata Prefecture: Ishiguro Takeshige (until 24 August); Hee Yamauchi (starting 24 August)

Films

Events

Throughout the entire year - Celebration of year 2600 in Japanese imperial year
January 15 – A large fire destroys much of Shizuoka city center.
January 29 – According to Japanese government official confirmed report, a three-passenger locomotive commuter train derail and caught fire nearby Ajikawaguchi Station, Osaka, resulting to 189 person (181 were instantly, 8 were hospital) were death and 69 persons injures.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
March 16–April 3 – Battle of Wuyuan
May 1–June 18 – Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang
September 22–26 – Japanese invasion of French Indochina
November 25–30 – Central Hubei Operation

Births

January 1 – Ippei Kuri, manga artist and entrepreneur (d. 2023){{cite web|title=Tatsunoko Production Co-Founder Ippei Kuri Passes Away|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-07-19/tatsunoko-production-co-founder-ippei-kuri-passes-away/.200467|website=Anime News Network|date=July 19, 2023}}
January 2 – Masahiko Tsugawa, actor (d. 2018){{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%B4%A5%E5%B7%9D%E9%9B%85%E5%BD%A6-1091903|title=Masahiko Tsugawa 知恵蔵mini「津川雅彦」の解説|work=KOTOBANK|accessdate=July 24, 2021}}
February 11 – Kinryuu Arimoto, voice actor (d. 2019)
May 13 – Kōkichi Tsuburaya, marathoner (d. 1968)
May 25 – Nobuyoshi Araki, photographer and artist
June 3 – Koichi Kishi, politician (d. 2017)
July 2 – Ruriko Asaoka, actress
July 19 – Hanako, Princess Hitachi, wife of Masahito, Prince Hitachi
August 20 – Gisaburō Sugii, anime director and Nihonga artist
September 20 – Tarō Asō, 59th Prime Minister of Japan
October 30 – Hidetoshi Nagasawa, sculptor and architect (d. 2018)
December 4 – Fumio Kyūma, politician

Deaths

January 1 – Fusajiro Yamauchi, entrepreneur (b. 1859){{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}
March 8 – Princess Masako Takeda, sixth daughter of Emperor Meiji (b. 1888)
May 11 – Chujiro Hayashi, Reiki practitioner (b. 1880)
June 5 – Tokugawa Iesato, politician (b. 1863)
September 4 – Prince Nagahisa Kitashirakawa, career army officer (b. 1910)
October 6 – Michitarō Komatsubara, general (b. 1885)
November 20 – Hideo Oguma, poet (b. 1901)
November 24 – Saionji Kinmochi, politician, statesman and Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1849)