Events in the year 1949 in Japan.
Incumbents
Supreme Commander Allied Powers: Douglas MacArthur
Emperor: Hirohito
Prime Minister: Shigeru Yoshida (L–Kōchi, 3rd term from February 16) Chief Cabinet Secretary: Eisaku Satō (not Diet member→L–Yamaguchi) until February 16, Kaneshichi Masuda (L–Nagano) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Tadahiko Mibuchi President of the House of Representatives: vacant until February 11, Kijūrō Shidehara (L–Ōsaka) President of the House of Councillors: Tsuneo Matsudaira (Ryokufūkai–Fukushima) until November 14, Naotake Satō (Ryokufūkai–Aomori) from November 15 Diet sessions: 5th (special, February 11 to May 31), 6th (extraordinary, October 25 to November (?)), 7th (regular, December 4 to 1950, May 2)
Governors
Aichi Prefecture: Hideo Aoyagi
Akita Prefecture: Kosaku Hasuike
Aomori Prefecture: Bunji Tsushima
Chiba Prefecture: Tamenosuke Kawaguchi
Ehime Prefecture: Juushin Aoki
Fukui Prefecture: Harukazu Obata
Fukuoka Prefecture: Katsuji Sugimoto
Fukushima Prefecture: Kan'ichirō Ishihara (until 30 November); vacant thereafter (starting 30 November) Gifu Prefecture: Kamon Muto Gunma Prefecture: Yoshio Iyoku Hiroshima Prefecture: Tsunei Kusunose Hokkaido Prefecture: Toshifumi Tanaka Hyogo Prefecture: Yukio Kishida Ibaraki Prefecture: Yoji Tomosue Ishikawa Prefecture: Wakio Shibano Iwate Prefecture: Kenkichi Kokubun Kagawa Prefecture: Keikichi Masuhara 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: Saburō Chiba (until 3 January); Kazuji Sasaki (starting 25 February) Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadao Annaka Nagano Prefecture: Torao Hayashi Nagasaki Prefecture: Sōjirō Sugiyama Nara Prefecture: Mansaku Nomura Niigata Prefecture: Shohei Okada Oita Prefecture: Tokuju Hosoda Okayama Prefecture: Hirokichi Nishioka Osaka Prefecture: Bunzō Akama Saga Prefecture: Gen'ichi Okimori Saitama Prefecture: until 28 March: Mizo Nishimura 28 March-17 May: Yoshida Tadakazu starting 17 May: Yuuichi Oosawa Shiga Prefecture: Iwakichi Hattori Shiname Prefecture: Fujiro Hara Shizuoka Prefecture: Takeji Kobayashi Tochigi Prefecture: Juukichi Kodaira Tokushima Prefecture: Goro 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: Katsuyasu Yoshie
Events
January 23 - 1949 Japanese general election
January 26 – A fire breaks out at Hōryū-ji temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, destroying several murals. March Unknown date – Mens Shop Ogori, as predecessor of Uniqlo was founded in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture. May 16: Opening of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya Stock Exchanges. May 25: Ministry of International Trade and Industry formed. June 1: Japanese National Railways become independent of the Ministry of Transportation. June 22: A Typhoon Della, torrential massibie rain and landslide hit, many ship and fishing boat plunged around Uwa Sea, Ehime Prefecture, 468 person were human fatalities, including a passenger ferry Aoba Maru, and 367 persons were hurt, according to Japanese government official confirmed report. July 5 - Shimoyama incident July 15 - Mitaka incident August 17 - Matsukawa derailment September 15: First limited express trains begin operation on JNR lines. October: Hideki Yukawa becomes the first Japanese winner of a Nobel Prize. December 1 Izumi Real Estate, later, Sumitomo Realty & Development was founded. Marubeni was established that separate from Itochu. December 16 – Auto parts company Denso established.