1947 in Japan

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Incumbents

Supreme Commander Allied Powers: Douglas MacArthur
Emperor: Hirohito
Prime Minister: Shigeru Yoshida (Peer–Imperial appointment) until May 24, Tetsu Katayama (S–Kanagawa)
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Tadahiko Mibuchi from August 4
Diet (Empire of Japan)
- President of the House of Representatives: Takeshi Yamazaki (L–Ibaraki) until March 31
- President of the House of Peers: Iemasa Tokugawa (Kayōkai–Prince) until May 2
- Imperial Diet sessions: 92nd (regular session opened in December 1946, until March 31)
Diet (State of Japan)
- President of the House of Representatives: Komakichi Matsuoka (S–Tokyo) from May 24
- President of the House of Councillors: Tsuneo Matsudaira (Ryokufūkai–Fukushima) from May 20
- Diet sessions: 1st (special, May 20 to December 9), 2nd (regular, from December 10 to 1948)

February 25: Hachikō Line derailment
April 5: In the first phase of the first unified regional elections the governors of all 46 prefectures are elected directly for the first time. Also up are mayors of municipalities across the country.
April 20: First election for the House of Councillors. 111 of 250 seats are won by non-affiliated candidates.
April 25: 23rd Election for House of Representatives. Socialist Party wins 143 of 466 seats, followed by Liberal Party with 131 and Democratic Party with 124.
April 30: In the second phase of the unified regional elections prefectural and municipal assemblies are elected.
May 3: Constitution of Japan goes into effect.
May 24: Tetsu Katayama becomes prime minister.
August 4: Supreme Court of Japan established.

Years in Japan (1868–present)

Meiji period (1868–1912)

1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912

Taishō period (1912–1926)

1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926

Shōwa period (1926–1989)

1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

Heisei period (1989–present)

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

1947 in Asia

Sovereign states	Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Burma (Myanmar) Cambodia China Cyprus East Timor (Timor-Leste) Egypt Georgia India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen

States with limited recognition	Abkhazia Nagorno-Karabakh Northern Cyprus Palestine South Ossetia Taiwan

Dependencies and other territories	British Indian Ocean Territory Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Hong Kong Macau