Japan
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1915
January 18, presentation of the Twenty-one Demands on China.
1916
October 9, General Terauchi as prime minister; October 10, formation of the Kenseikai.
1918
April 5, landing of Japanese forces at Vladivostok; August, rice riots; September 29, Hara Kei of the Seiyukai as prime minister.
1919
Height of great influenza epidemic; March 1, uprising in Korea; May 22, revision of the election laws.
1920
January 10, peace treaty with Germany; creation of the Japanese Mandate over the former German islands in the North Pacific.
1921
March–September, trip of Crown Prince Hirohito to Europe; November 4, assassination of Hara; November 12, start of the Washington Conference; November 13, Takahashi Korekiyo as prime minister; November 25, appointment of Hirohito as prince regent.
1922
June 12, Admiral Kato Tomosaburo as prime minister; October 25, final withdrawal from Vladivostok; November 30, signing of the agreement with China for the return of Kiaochow (Tsingtao).
1923
September 1, great Kanto earthquake; September 2, Yamamoto again prime minister.
1924
January 7, Kiyoura Keigo as prime minister; April 16, Exclusion Act by the United States banning Japanese immigration; June 11, Kato Takaaki of the Kenseikai as prime minister.
1925
March 27, elimination of four army divisions; May 5, adoption of universal manhood suffrage; April 22, peace preservation law.
1926
January 30, Wakatsuki Reijiro as prime minister; December 25, death of Taisho emperor and the accession of Hirohito.
1926–1989
SHOWA PERIOD
1927
April 20, General Tanaka Giichi of the Seiyukai as prime minister; April 21, bank crisis; May–June, armed intervention in Shantung; June 1, founding of the Minseito.
1928
February 20, first general election under universal manhood suffrage; March 15, mass arrest of Communists; April 10, banning of three “proletarian” parties; May 3–11, fighting at Tsinan in Shantung; June 4, bomb attack in Manchuria on Chang Tso-lin (d. June 21).
1929
July 2, Hamaguchi Osachi of the Minseito as prime minister.
1930
April 22, signing of the London Naval Treaty; November 14, wounding of Hamaguchi by terrorist (d. August 26, 1931).
1931
April 14, Wakatsuki of the Minseito again as prime minister; September 18, the Manchurian Incident; December 13, Inukai Tsuyoshi of the Seiyukai as prime minister; December 14, abandonment of the gold standard.
1932
January 28–March 3, Shanghai campaign; February 18, creation of Manchukuo; May 15, assassination of Inukai (5–15 Incident); May 26, Admiral Saito Makoto as prime minister; July 24, formation of the Social Mass party (Shakai Taishuto).
1933
February 24, adoption of the Lytton Report on Manchuria by the League of Nations; March 4, capture of the capital of Jehol in Inner Mongolia; May 10, disciplinary action against liberal professors at Kyoto Imperial University; July 11, discovery of the plot of the Shimpeitai (“God-Sent Troops”).
1934
July 8, Admiral Okada Keisuke as prime minister.
1935
March 23, sale of the Chinese Eastern Railway by the Soviet Union to Manchukuo; July 16, reorganization of the army command aimed against the Kodoha faction; August 12, assassination of General Nagata; September 18, resignation of Professor Minobe Tatsukichi from the House of Peers; November 24, inauguration of the East Hopei Autonomous Regime in North China.
1936
February 20, general elections; February 26, assassinations and attempted coup d’etat (2–26 Incident); March 9, Hirota Koki as prime minister; November 25, Anti-Comintern Pact.
1937
February 2, General Hayashi Senjuro as prime minister; April 30, general elections; June 4, Prince Konoe Fumimaro as prime minister; July 7, outbreak of war with China; August 14, bombing of Shanghai by Chinese planes and the spread of the war to Central China; October 25, creation of the Cabinet Planning Office; November 8, end of the Shanghai campaign; December 12, bombing of the U.S. gunboat Panay on the Yangtze River; December 13, capture of Nanking.
1938
April 1, National Mobilization Law; July 11–August 10, battle with the Russians at Changkufeng in Manchuria; October 21, capture of Canton; October 27, capture of the Hankow area.
1939
January 5, Hiranuma Kiichiro as prime minister; April 28–July 11, fighting with the Russians at Nomonhan in Mongolia; July 27, denunciation of the 1911 trade treaty by the U.S. (effective in six months); August 30, General Abe Nobuyuki as prime minister; September 1, outbreak of World War II in Europe.
1940
January 16, Admiral Yonai Mitsumasa as prime minister; March 30, creation of the puppet Wang Ching-wei regime in Nanking; July 6–August 15, dissolution of the political parties; July 22, Konoe again prime minister; September 23, entrance of Japanese forces into northern French Indochina; September 26, embargo by the U.S. on scrap iron shipments; September 27, Tripartite Alliance with Germany and Italy; October 12, inauguration of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association; November 24, death of Saionji.
1941
April 13, Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact; June 22, German invasion of the Soviet Union; July 24, occupation by Japan of southern Indochina; July 26, freezing of Japanese assets by the U.S.; August 1, American licensing system for oil shipments to Japan; October 18, General Tojo Hideki as prime minister; December 7, attack on Pearl Harbor and start of the Pacific War.
1942
February 15, capture of Singapore; March 9, surrender of Java; May 6, surrender of Corregidor (Philippines); May 7–8, battle of the Coral Sea; June 4–6, battle of Midway; August 7–February 7, 1943, Guadalcanal campaign; September 17–25, checking of the Japanese advance in New Guinea; November 1, creation of the Greater East Asia Ministry.
1943
November 21–25, capture of Tarawa.
1944
June 15–July 7, Saipan campaign; July 22, General Koiso Kuniaki as prime minister; October 20, American landing in the Philippines; November 24, start of B-29 bombings of Japan.
1945
February 26, fall of Manila; February 19–March 17, Iwo Jima campaign; March 10 and May 24–25, great firebomb raids on Tokyo; April 1–June 21, Okinawa campaign; April 7, Admiral Suzuki Kantaro as prime minister; May 8, German surrender; July 26, Potsdam Proclamation; August 6 and 9, atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; August 8, Soviet entrance into the war; August 14, acceptance of terms of the Potsdam Proclamation; August 17, Prince Higashikuni as prime minister; September 2, formal surrender received by General Douglas Mac Arthur; October 4, release of political prisoners ordered; October 9, Shidehara Kijuro (later of the Progressive party) as prime minister; December 15, disestablishment o
f Shinto; December 27, Moscow Agreement creating the Far Eastern Commission and the Allied Council for Japan.
1946
January 1, emperor’s denial of his own divinity; January 4, first purge directive; April 10, first postwar elections; May 22, Yoshida Shigeru of the Liberal party as prime minister; October 21, enactment of the land reform law.
1947
February 1, banning of a general strike; April 25, general elections; May 3, new constitution goes into effect; May 24, Katayama Tetsu of the Socialist party as prime minister; December 18, enactment of the economic deconcentration law.
1948
March 10, Ashida Hitoshi of the Democratic party as prime minister; October 15, Yoshida again prime minister; December 23, execution of Tojo and six other major war criminals.
1949
January 23, general elections; April 15, report of Joseph M. Dodge on budgetary retrenchment; exchange rate of 360 yen to the dollar; May 12, end of reparations removals.
1950
April 6, appointment of John Foster Dulles to negotiate the peace treaty; June 6 and 7, Communist purges; June 25, invasion of South Korea by North Korea; August 10, National Police Reserve ordinance.
1951
April 11, dismissal of MacArthur, appointment of General Matthew B. Ridgway as SCAP; June 20, lifting of purge restrictions on 69,000 persons; September 8, signing of the peace treaty with 48 nations and the security treaty with the U.S. at San Francisco; October 24, split of the Socialist party.
1952
February 28, signing of an administrative agreement on terms for the U.S. bases in Japan; April 28, peace treaty goes into effect; May 1, anti-American riots in Tokyo; September 18, Soviet Union vetoes Japanese admission to the United Nations; October 1, general elections; October 15, National Police Reserve reorganized as the National Security Force.
1953
April 19, general elections; July 27, cease-fire in Korea; December 24, U.S. agrees to return Amami Islands to Japan.
1954
March 1, No. 5 Fukuryu-maru involved in Bikini nuclear fallout; July 1, National Security Force reorganized as the Self-Defense Forces under the Defense Agency; November 5, peace treaty and reparations agreement signed with Burma; December 10, Hatoyama Ichiro of the Democratic party as prime minister.
1955
February 27, general elections; August 6, first Ban the Atom Bomb World Conference held in Hiroshima; September 10, Japan joins GATT; September 13, start of Sunakawa (Tachikawa Air Base) struggles; October 13, reunification of the left and right Socialists; November 15, founding of the Liberal Democratic party.
1956
April 5, Hatoyama elected first president of the Liberal Democratic party; May 9, Philippine reparations agreement; July 8, first election of members of the upper house by the Soka Gakkai; October 19, joint statement normalizing relations with the Soviet Union; December 18, Japan admitted into the United Nations; December 23, Ishibashi Tanzan as prime minister.
1957
February 25, Kishi Nobusuke as prime minister; December 6, signing of a treaty of commerce with the Soviet Union.
1958
January 20, reparations agreement with Indonesia; May 2, Chinese Communist flag incident in Nagasaki leading to breakoff of trade relations with Japan; May 22, general elections.
1959
March 9, Asanuma Inejiro, secretary general of the Socialist party, declares in Peking that U.S. is common enemy of Japan and China; April 10, the crown prince marries a commoner; August 13, agreement for the repatriation of Koreans to North Korea.
1960
January 19, signing of the Treaty of Mutual Security and Cooperation with the United States; January 24, founding of the Democratic Socialist party; May 19–20, treaty ratification pushed through; June 15, giant antitreaty demonstration resulting in the death of a girl student; June 16, cancellation of the visit of President Eisenhower; June 19, automatic ratification of the treaty; July 19, Ikeda Hayato as prime minister; September 5, announcement of the income-doubling plan; October 12, Asanuma assassinated; November 1, settlement of the Miike coal mine strike; November 20, general elections.
1961
June 10, agreement on the repayment to the United States of the GARIOA debts (economic assistance during the occupation period); November 2–4, first meeting in Hakone of the cabinet level U.S.-Japan Committee on Trade and Economic Affairs.
1962
January 25–31, first U.S.-Japan Cultural Conference.
1963
November 21, general elections.
1964
April 28, Japan admitted into the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development); October 1, opening of the “New Mainline” railway (Shinkansen); October 10–24, Tokyo Olympic Games; November 9, Sato Eisaku as prime minister; November 12, first visit of an American nuclear-powered submarine; November 17, founding of the Komeito by the Soka Gakkai.
1965
June 22, signing of the normalization agreement with South Korea; July 23, loss of a Liberal Democratic majority in the Tokyo Assembly election; August 19–21, first postwar visit of a prime minister (Sato) to Okinawa; December 11, ratification of the South Korean normalization agreement.
1966
August 22, Asian Development Bank instituted.
1967
January 29, general elections; April 15, local elections in which Minobe Ryokichi, supported by the Socialists, is elected governor of Tokyo.
1968
January 19–23, U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise visits Sasebo; February 1, approval given by the U.S. for the election of the Okinawan chief executive; April 5, agreement for the return of the Bonin Islands (returned June 26); October 17, Nobel Prize for literature awarded Kawabata Yasunari; November 10, Yara Chobyo, a leftist, elected chief executive of Okinawa.
1969
January 18–19, riot police evict leftist students from Tokyo University buildings; May 26, completion of the Tokyo-Kobe Expressway; July 25, first enunciation of the Guam Doctrine, later called the Nixon Doctrine; August 3, passage of the University Reform Law; November 21, Sato-Nixon communiqué announcing the reversion of Okinawa within a few years; December 27, general elections.
1970
March 15, opening of the World Exposition in Osaka; March 31, hijacking to North Korea of a Japan Air Lines jet; May 3, announcement of the complete separation of Komeito from the Soka Gakkai; June 23, expiration of the ten-year term for the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty; October 29, Sato reelected to an unprecedented fourth term as president of the Liberal Democratic party; November 25, suicide of the novelist Mishima Yukio.
1971
February 27, start of the compulsory expropriation of land for the new Narita Airport; July 15, first “Nixon shock” of forthcoming presidential visit to China; August 15, second “Nixon shock” of 10 percent surcharge on imports into the U.S. and nonconvertibility of the dollar; October 15, Japan formally accepts new “voluntary” textile quotas; December 20, agreement on the revaluation of the yen 16.88 percent upward against the dollar (308 to the dollar); Sato formulates the three nuclear principles.
1972
February 3, opening of the Winter Olympic Games at Sapporo; May 15, Okinawa reverts to Japan as the 47th prefecture; May 30, attack by Japanese student terrorists on passengers at the Tel Aviv airport in Israel; July 6, Tanaka Kakuei as prime minister; October 2, creation of the Japan Foundation; September 29, formal recognition of the People’s Republic of China; December 10, general elections.
1973
February 15, revaluation upward of the yen by 16.67 percent against the dollar (264 to the dollar); August 8, abduction in Japan of Kim Dae Jung, Korean opposition political leader; November 14, opening of the Kammon Bridge (between Honshu and Kyushu); December 8, decision to locate the headquarters of the United Nations University in Tokyo; November–December, impact on Japan of the shock of the Arab oil crisis; inauguration of national pollution control measures.
1974
January 15–16, riots in Indonesia during Tanaka’s visit; March 9, surrender of Lt. Onoda in the Philippines; March 15, completion of the Kammon Tunnel; April 11, transport and communications strike of 6 million workers; April 20, China-Japan air agreement signed and Japanese flights banned by Taiwan in retaliation; June 26, establishment of the National Land Agency; July 7, Liberal Democrats retain a narrow majority in upper house elections; August 15, shooting of the wife of President Park Chung Hee of Korea by a Korean youth from Japan; September 1, nuclear leak on the experimental nuclear-powered ship Mutsu; October 6–13, revelation by retired American Rear Admiral Gene LaRoque that U.S. naval vessels carry nuclear weapons in Japanese waters; October 10, allegations of corruption by the magazine Bungei Shunju against Prime Minister Tanaka; November 18–22, visit by President Gerald Ford to Japan; December 9, Miki Takeo as prime minister; December 10, Sato awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.