1931 in Japan

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← 1930 1929 1928 1931 in Japan → 1932 1933 1934
Decades:	1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s
See also:	Other events of 1935 History of Japan Timeline Years

Events in the year 1931 in Japan.

• Emperor: Hirohito^[1]
• Prime Minister:
  • Osachi Hamaguchi: until April 14
  • Wakatsuki Reijirō: April 14 – December 13
  • Inukai Tsuyoshi: from December 13

• Aichi Prefecture:
  • starting 20 January: Masao Oka
  • 20 January-21 December: Kosaka Masayasu
  • until 21 December: Yujiro Osaki
• Akita Prefecture: Koki Hiegata (until 18 December); Takeshi Uchida (starting 18 December)
• Aomori Prefecture: Migaku Moriya (until 18 December); Teizaburo Miyamoto (starting 18 December)
• Ehime Prefecture: Koichiro Sasai (until 18 December); Kume Shigeo (starting 18 December)
• Fukui Prefecture: Tachibana Saitanao (until 18 December); Keizo Ichimura (starting 18 December)
• Fukushima Prefecture:
  • until 15 April: Koyanagi Makimamoru
  • 15 April-18 December: Goro Kawasaki
  • starting 18 December: Murai Hachiro
• Gifu Prefecture:
  • until 8 May: Ken Usawa
  • 8 May-18 December: Yoshida Katsutaro
  • starting 18 December: Takehiko Ito
• Gunma Prefecture:
  • until 27 June: Hotta Kanae
  • 27 June-18 December: Kiichi Harata
  • starting 18 December: Masao Kanazawa
• Hiroshima Prefecture:
  • until 8 May: Hiroshi Kawabuchi
  • 8 May-18 December: Takekai Shirane
  • starting 18 December: Ryo Chiba
• Ibaraki Prefecture:
  • until 27 June: Shozo Ushijima
  • 27 June-18 December: Tanaka
  • starting 18 December: Seikichi Kimishima
• Ishikawa Prefecture: Nakano Kunikazu (until month unknown)
• Iwate Prefecture: Toyoshiro Kubo (until 18 December); Hidehiko Ishiguro (starting 18 December)
• Kagawa Prefecture:
  • until 27 June: Susumu Tsuboi
  • 27 June-18 December: Yusai Takahashi
  • starting 18 December: Akira Ito
• Kanagawa Prefecture: Jiro Yamagata (until month unknown)
• Kochi Prefecture:
  • until 27 June: Tanaka
  • 27 June-18 December: Tsuboi
  • starting 18 December: Kodora Akamatsu
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Bunpei Motoyama (until 18 December); Kenichi Yamashita (starting 18 December)
• Kyoto Prefecture:
  • until October: Sasaki Shinichi
  • October-December: Shinya Kurosaki
  • starting December: Sukenari Yokoyama
• Mie Prefecture: Keizo Ichimura (until 18 December); Hirose Hisatada (starting 18 December)
• Miyagi Prefecture: Michio Yuzawa
• Miyazaki Prefecture:
  • until 18 December: Ariyoshi
  • 18 December-21 December: Kiyoshi Nakarai
  • starting 21 December: Gisuke Kinoshita
• Nagano Prefecture: Shintaro Suzuki (until 18 December); Ishigaki Kuraji (starting 18 December)
• Niigata Prefecture:
• until 2 October: Toyoji Obata
• 2 October-18 December: Nakano Kunikazu
• starting 18 December: Obata Toyoji
• Okinawa Prefecture: Jiro Ino
• Osaka Prefecture: Saito Munenori (starting month unknown)
• Saga Prefecture:
  • until 18 December: Inoue
  • 20 January-18 December: Nakarai Kiyoshi
  • starting 18 December: Saburo Hayakawa
• Saitama Prefecture:
  • until 15 April: Niwa Shichiro
  • 15 April-18 December: Kozo Yamanaka
  • starting 18 December: Umekichi Miyawaki
• Shiname Prefecture:
  • until 21 August: Keiichi Omori
  • 21 August-18 December: Kanichi Misawa
  • starting 18 December: Rinsaku Yagi
• Tochigi Prefecture:
  • until 27 January: Harada
  • 20 January-27 December: Asari Saburo
  • starting 27 December: Chokichi Toshima
• Tokyo: Torataro Shizuka (until 18 October); Hasegawa Hisakazu (starting 18 October)
• Toyama Prefecture: Kozo Yamanaka (until 15 April); Keiichi Suzuki (starting 15 April)
• Yamagata Prefecture:
  • until 24 October: Kubota Osamu Kosuke
  • 24 October-18 December: Ken Yamaguchi
  • starting 18 December: Sada Kawamura

• March - March Incident
• March 27 – A real estate brand, Shōei Corporation was founded, as predecessor for Hullic.^{[citation needed]}
• June 5 – 1931 Empress of Canada stabbings: A man killed 2 and wounded 29 others with a knife aboard the Canadian Pacific Steamships liner RMS Empress of Canada as the ship sailed off Japan.^[2]
• June 27 - Nakamura Incident
• July 1 - Wanpaoshan Incident
• September 21 – A Richer Scale magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit in Yorii, Saitama Prefecture. According to Japanese government official confirmed report, killing 16 persons, 146 persons were wounded.^{[page needed]}
• October 21 - October Incident
• November 4 - Resistance at Nenjiang Bridge
• November 4–18 - Jiangqiao Campaign
• Unknown date
  • Teikyo Commerce School, later Teikyo University was founded in Tokyo.^{[page needed]}
  • A time recorder and robot brand, Amano was founded in Yokohama, as predecessor name of Amano Manufacturing.^{[page needed]}
  • A mail order cram school, Jitsuryoku-Zōshinsha (Ability Promotion), as predecessor of Zōshinsha Holdings (Z-kai) was founded.^[3]

• Tokyo Chorus

• January 2 – Toshiki Kaifu, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2022)
• January 6 – Kaoru Yachigusa, actress (d. 2019)
• January 20 – Ariyoshi Sawako, writer (d. 1984)
• January 21 – Yoshiko Kuga, actress (d. 2024)
• January 28 – Sakyo Komatsu, science fiction writer (d. 2011)
• February 16 – Ken Takakura, actor (d. 2014)
• March 7 – Atsuko, Princess Yori, fourth daughter of Emperor Shōwa
• March 9 – Masahiro Shinoda, film director

• April 11 – Koichi Sugiyama, composer and conductor (d. 2021)
• May 10 – Ichirō Nagai, voice actor (d. 2014)
• June 22 – Teruyuki Okazaki, black belt in Shotokan Karate (d. 2020)

• July 5 – Ryuzo Sato, economist
• July 11 – Yasuo Ōtsuka, animator (d. 2021)
• August 29 – Ichikawa Raizō VIII, actor (d. 1969)
• August 30 – Jōji Yanami, voice actor
• September 17 – Ayako Sono, writer (d. 2021)
• September 21 – Syukuro Manabe, Japanese-American meteorologist and climatologist^[4]

• October 24 – Ken Utsui, actor (d. 2014)
• November 29 – Shintaro Katsu, actor (d. 1997)
• December 5 – Kyōko Kagawa, actress
• December 11 – Fujiko Yamamoto, actress
• December 15 – Shuntarō Tanikawa, poet and translator
• December 19 – Reiko Sato, actress and dancer (d. 1981)
• December 31 – Sakata Tōjūrō IV, kabuki actor (d. 2020)

• Miyozo Yamazaki, amateur archaeologist^[5]

• January 27 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Sumo wrestler, 25th yokozuna (b. 1880)
• June 13 – Kitasato Shibasaburō, physician and bacteriologist (b. 1853)
• June 26 – Yamakawa Kenjirō, physicist, university president (b. 1854)
• August 2 – Kinue Hitomi, sprinter and long jumper (b. 1907)
• August 26 – Osachi Hamaguchi, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1870)
• September 2 – Ichinohe Hyoe, general (b. 1855)
• November 11 – Shibusawa Eiichi, industrialist (b. 1840)

• 1931 in Japanese football
• List of Japanese films of the 1930s