Japanese History Timeline (Part 3)

Events in Japanese History

Events 401 - 600 of 896

• 1942-09-16 Japanese attack on Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, repelled
• 1942-10-12 WWII: US Navy defeats Japanese in Battle of Cape Esperance between Savo Island and Guadalcanal in theSouth Pacific's Solomon Islands
• 1942-10-14 Japanese battleship strikes Henderson Field, Guadalcanal

• 1942-10-26 Battle of Santa Cruz: Japanese naval offensive against US forces near Solomon Islands
• 1942-11-11 Lt-general Kumakashi Harada becomes Japanese commander on Java
• 1942-11-12 WWII Naval Battle of Guadalcanal begins between Allied and Japanese forces in Solomon Islands
• 1942-11-14 -Nov 15th) Japanese vs US sea battle at Savo-Island in Guadalcanal
• 1942-11-23 Japanese bombing of Port Darwin, Australia
• 1942-12-20 1st Japanese bombing of Calcutta
• 1942-12-27 1st Japanese women camp (Ambarawa) goes into use
• 1943-01-09 Japanese government in Java limits sale & use of motorcars
• 1943-01-14 World War II: Japan begins Operation Ke, withdrawal of its troops from Guadalcanal
• 1943-01-23 Japanese Mount Austen on Guadalcanal captured
• 1943-01-29 New Zealand cruiser Kiwi collides with Japanese submarine I-1 at Guadalcanal
• 1943-01-29 U.S. cruiser "Chicago" is heavily damaged by Japanese bombers on the first day of the Battle of Rennell Island
• 1943-01-30 WWII: Battle of Rennell Island, in the Solomon Islands - Japanese aerial torpedoes sink USS Chicago, a US Navy cruiser

• 1943-01-31 Chile breaks off relations with Germany & Japan
• 1943-02-09 Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, ending the epic World War II battle on the Solomon Islands in the Pacific
• 1943-03-03 Battle of the Bismarck Sea: Australian and American air forces devastate Japanese navy convoy

• 1943-03-26 Battle of Komandorski Islands, naval battle between American navy and Japanese Imperial forces in the Pacific Ocean, ends inconclusively

• 1943-05-14 Australian Hospital Ship Centaur sinks off the coast of Queensland after being struck by torpedo fired by Japanese submarine; 268 of 332 medical personnel and civilian crew aboard die
• 1943-05-19 Churchill pledges Britain's full support to US against Japan
• 1943-05-25 Trident conference in Washington, D.C. (operation plan '43 against Japan)

• 1943-08-01 Japan declares Burma Independence under U Ba Maw
• 1943-08-21 Japan leaves Aleutian Islands
• 1943-08-31 Japanese occupiers intern Jewish Congregation of Sorabajo
• 1943-10-02 Japanese troops leave Kolombangara, Solomon Island
• 1943-10-03 Operations begin at PETA Java, defending (Japanese) fatherland
• 1943-10-05 US air raid on Wake, Japanese execute 98 US prisoners in retaliation

• 1943-11-23 US forces take control of Tarawa, Gilbert Island & Makin from Japanese

• 1944-02-02 Allied troops 1st set foot on Japanese territory
• 1944-02-14 Anti-Japanese revolt on Java

• 1944-02-23 Battle of Eniwetok ends as US forces complete the capture of Parry Island from the Japanese 1st Amphibious Brigade
• 1944-03-07 Japan begins offensive in Burma
• 1944-04-01 Japanese troops conquer Jessami, Eastern India
• 1944-04-26 1st B-29 attacked by Japanese fighters, one fighter shot down
• 1944-05-27 Japanese advance in Hangkhou, China
• 1944-06-11 15 US aircraft carriers attack Japanese bases on Marianas
• 1944-06-14 1st B-29 raid against mainland Japan
• 1944-06-16 US bombs Kyushu, Japan
• 1944-06-19 Japanese troops conquer Changsha China
• 1944-06-19 World War II: First day of the 2 day Battle of the Philippine Sea, US naval forces defeat Japanese fleet
• 1944-06-20 US attacks Japanese fleet in the Philippine Sea
• 1944-06-22 British 14th Army frees Imphal, Assam from the Japanese

• 1944-07-07 Heavy Japanese counter offensive on Saipan
• 1944-07-08 Japanese kamikaze attacks on US lines at Saipan
• 1944-07-09 In World War II, US troops secure Saipan as Japan falls
• 1944-07-19 Japanese aircraft carriers Taiho and Shokaku sink in Marianas
• 1944-07-20 Japanese aircraft carrier Hijo sunk by US air attack
• 1944-07-20 US invades Japanese-occupied Guam
• 1944-07-21 General Koiso becomes Premier of Japan
• 1944-07-21 US forces land on Guam during its recapture from the Japanese (Operation Forager)
• 1944-07-23 US forces invade Japanese-held Tinian in WW II
• 1944-07-25 Japanese banzai-attack on Guam
• 1944-07-26 Japanese suicide attack on US lines in Guam
• 1944-08-10 Battle for Guam ends with US troops recapturing Guam from the Japanese
• 1944-08-19 Last Japanese troops driven out of India
• 1944-10-22 WWII: Japanese Navy Admiral Takeo Kurita's fleet leaves North Borneo
• 1944-10-24 US air raid on Japanese battleships and cruisers in Sibuya Sea: Musashi sinks

• 1944-10-25 Battle at Cape Engano: 4 Japanese ships sink
• 1944-10-25 Battle in Straits of Surigao: Japanese fleet destroyed
• 1944-11-20 1st Japanese suicide submarine attack (Ulithi Atol, Carolines)
• 1944-12-13 Japanese kamikaze crashes into US cruiser Nashville, kills 138
• 1944-12-17 US Army announces end of excluding Japanese-Americans from West Coast, detainees released
• 1944-12-22 Sub Swordfish departs Pearl Harbor for Japan
• 1944-12-31 Japanese army evacuates harbor city Akyab

• 1945-01-04 US jeep-aircraft carrier Ommaney Bay sinks after Japanese kamikaze attack
• 1945-01-07 The last surface engagement between Allies and Japanese in the Pacific campaign, World War II
• 1945-01-12 US Task Force 38 destroys 41 Japanese ships in Battle of South China Sea
• 1945-01-25 Japanese occupiers of Batavia arrest Indo-European youths
• 1945-01-30 American Rangers and Filipino resistance fighters liberate over 500 Allied POWs from Japanese at Cabanatuan

• 1945-02-16 WWII: US Navy 5th Fleet aircraft carriers and planes begin two-day bombardment of airfields and aircraft plants near Tokyo, Japan; over 500 hundred Japanese aircraft are destroyed
• 1945-02-19 980 Japanese soldiers reportedly killed by crocodiles in 2 days on Ramree Island, Burma
• 1945-02-19 US 5th Fleet launches invasion of Iwo Jima against the Japanese with 30,000 US Marines
• 1945-02-24 Manila freed from Japanese
• 1945-03-09 Japanese proclaim "independence" of Indo-China
• 1945-03-10 Japan grants occupied Vietnam independence
• 1945-03-18 US Task Force 58 attacks targets on Kyushu, Japan
• 1945-03-19 800 killed as Kamikaze attacked USS Franklin off Japan
• 1945-03-21 1st Japanese kamikaze "flying bombs" (MXY-7 Ohka) attack Okinawa

• 1945-03-26 Allies led by US Marine Corps secure island of Iwo Jima from Imperial Japanese Army, after 18,000 Japanese & 6,000 Americans killed
• 1945-03-27 World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways begins.
• 1945-04-06 Battle of Okinawa: Giant Japanese battleship Yamato heads to Okinawa with orders to beach herself and be destroyed defending the island
• 1945-04-07 Battle of Okinawa: Massive kamikaze attack of around 110 Japanese aircraft damages three US battleships off Okinawa island
• 1945-04-07 Battle of Okinawa: US planes intercept Japanese fleet heading for Okinawa on a suicide mission, super battleship Yamato and four destroyers are sunk
• 1945-04-07 Kuniaki Koiso resigns as Prime Minister of Japan after the US invasion of Okinawa; he is replaced by Kantaro Suzuki
• 1945-04-13 WWII: US Marines conquer Minna Shima off Okinawa, Japan
• 1945-04-19 US aircraft carrier Franklin heavy damaged in Japanese air raid
• 1945-04-29 Japanese army evacuates Rangoon, British Burma
• 1945-05-10 Allies capture Rangoon from the Japanese
• 1945-06-21 US defeat Japanese forces on Okinawa
• 1945-06-23 Last organized Japanese defiance broken (Tarakan)
• 1945-07-04 Field Marshal Henry Maitland Wilson gives Britain's agreement to use the atomic bomb against Japan at the Combined Policy Committee in Washington D. C.
• 1945-07-14 Battleship USS South Dakota is 1st US ship to bombard Japan
• 1945-07-24 WWII: Suicide attack by Japanese Kaiten manned torpedo sinks US Navy destroyer USS Underhill west of Guam; nearly half of the 234 crew was killed

• 1945-07-26 Japanese government disregards US ultimatum
• 1945-07-28 Japanese premier Suzuki disregards US ultimatum to surrender

• 1945-08-01 Japanese city Toyama destroyed by B-29's

• 1945-08-08 USSR declares war against Japan in WW II

• 1945-08-11 Allies refuse Japan's offer to surrender on the condition that Emperor Hirohito retains his status
• 1945-08-12 Emperor Hirohito of Japan informs the imperial family that he has decided to surrender

• 1945-08-14 Japanese government notifies the Allies that it had accepted the Potsdam Declaration

• 1945-08-15 Victory over Japan Day, the Japanese surrender and the end of WWII is announced in Japan (due to time zones 14th Aug in the Americas)
• 1945-08-26 Japanese diplomats board USS Missouri to receive instructions on Japan's surrender at the end of WWII
• 1945-08-27 US troops land in Japan after Japanese surrender
• 1945-08-29 British liberate Hong Kong from Japan

• 1945-08-30 Hong Kong liberated from Japanese control
• 1945-08-30 US General Douglas MacArthur lands in Japan

• 1945-09-02 V-J Day, formal surrender of Japan signed aboard USS Missouri marks the end of World War II (US date, 3rd September in Japan)
• 1945-09-03 World War II: Japanese forces in the Philippines surrender to the Allies
• 1945-09-04 US regains possession of Wake Island from Japan
• 1945-09-08 US invades Japanese-held Korea
• 1945-09-09 Japanese in South Korea, Taiwan, China, Indochina surrender to Allies
• 1945-09-11 Hideki Tojo, Japanese Prime Minister during most of World War II, attempts suicide rather than face war crimes tribunal but fails - later he is hanged

• 1946-01-01 Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces he is not a god
• 1946-04-10 1st election for Japanese Parliament
• 1946-04-29 28 former Japanese leaders indicted in Tokyo as war criminals
• 1946-06-03 International Military Tribunal opens in Tokyo against 28 Japanese war criminals
• 1946-11-03 Emperor Hirohito proclaims a new Japanese constitution
• 1946-12-21 Earthquake in South Japan, kills 1,086
• 1947-05-03 Japan's post-war constitution goes into effect, granting universal suffrage, stripping Emperor Hirohito of all but symbolic power and outlawing Japan's right to make war
• 1947-05-07 General MacArthur approves Japanese constitution
• 1947-08-04 The Supreme Court of Japan is established
• 1948-09-24 The Honda Motor Company is founded in Hamamatsu-city, Japan
• 1948-11-12 Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo sentenced to death by war crimes tribunal
• 1950-07-02 Kinkaku-ji, a Zen Buddihst temple in Kyoto, Japan, burns down
• 1950-08-23 West Germany & Japan readmitted to Intl Amateur Athletic Federation
• 1950-09-04 Heavy typhoon strikes Japan, kills about 250
• 1950-09-18 Nakagawa Soen, Japanese Zen teacher, receives dharma transmission
• 1951-03-20 Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded
• 1951-07-31 Japan Airlines is established

• 1951-09-08 Japan signs peace treaty with 48 countries in San Francisco

• 1952-03-20 Final ratification of peace treaty restoring sovereignty to Japan by US Senate
• 1952-06-12 USSR declares peace treaty with Japan invalid
• 1952-10-01 Liberal Party wins Japanese elections
• 1953-03-26 "Ugetsu", Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, starring Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyō and Kinuyo Tanaka, is released
• 1953-06-18 USAF C-124 Globemaster crashes shortly after takeoff from Tachikawa Air Base, Japan, killing 129 servicemen; at the time, it was the deadliest incident in aviation history
• 1953-07-29 US bomber shot down by Soviet Air Defence Forces in the Sea of Japan, north of Vladivostok
• 1953-09-27 Typhoon destroys one third of Nagoya, Japan
• 1953-11-03 "Tokyo Story", Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Chishū Ryū, Chieko Higashiyama and Setsuko Hara, is released
• 1953-11-10 Giants end their tour of Japan (players got $331 of $3,000 promised)
• 1953-11-25 Earthquake and tsnunami strike Honshu, Japan

• 1954-09-26 Japanese ferry boat Toya Maru sinks in Strait of Tsugaru during a typhoon, 1,153 people die
• 1954-11-07 US spy plane shot down North of Japan
• 1954-12-07 Japanese government of Joshida resigns
• 1955-03-18 Ichirō Hatojama recognized as premier of Japan
• 1955-08-07 Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, the precursor to Sony, begins selling its first transistor radios in Japan
• 1956-01-01 A new year event causes panic and stampedes at Yahiko Shrine, Yahiko, central Niigata, Japan, killing at least 124 people
• 1956-05-01 A doctor in Japan reports an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease
• 1956-05-09 First ascent of Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest mountain in the Nepalese Himalayas by Japanese climbers Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu

• 1956-12-18 Japan admitted to UN
• 1957-07-28 Heavy rain and a mudslide in Isahaya, western Kyūshū, Japan, kill 992
• 1957-12-09 1st Japanese ambassador to Israel
• 1958-01-26 Japanese ferry Nankai Maru capsized off southern Awaji Island, Japan, 167 killed.
• 1959-05-20 Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship
• 1959-06-22 Shunryu Suzuki completes his historical Japan to SF voyage
• 1959-08-24 Hiram L Fong sworn in as 1st Chinese-American US Senator while Daniel K Inouye sworn in as 1st Japanese-American US Representative; both from Hawaii
• 1959-09-17 Typhoon kills 2,000 in Japan & Korea
• 1959-09-26 Typhoon Vera, hits Japanese island of Honshu, causing the deaths of 4,580 people with 658 missing
• 1960-01-18 US & Japan sign joint defense treaty

• 1960-03-28 Pope John appoints the first Japanese, African & Filipino cardinals
• 1960-06-16 President Eisenhower cancels trip to Japan
• 1960-06-23 Japan signs security treaty with the US
• 1960-07-18 Premier Kishi of Japan resigns
• 1960-10-12 Japanese politician Inejiro Asanuma is assassinated with a sword during a televised debate live on TV by 17-year old nationalist Otoya Yamaguchi
• 1961-03-09 Mine cave-in in Japan, kills 72
• 1961-08-15 Keiyo Road is specified as the first driveway in Japan
• 1961-12-03 Dutchman Anton Geesink becomes 1st non-Japanese judo world champion
• 1962-05-03 Express train crashed into wreckage of a commuter train & a freight, killing 163, injuring 400 in Tokyo, Japan
• 1962-08-30 Japan conducts a test of the NAMC YS-11, its first aircraft since the war and its only successful commercial aircraft from before or after the war
• 1963-07-26 The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development votes to admit Japan.

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