Events from the year 1965 in Japan.

• Emperor: Hirohito^[1]
• Prime Minister: Eisaku Satō (Liberal Democratic)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Tomisaburo Hashimoto
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Kisaburo Yokota
• President of the House of Representatives: Naka Funada until December 20, Kikuchirō Yamaguchi
• President of the House of Councillors: Yūzō Shigemune

• February 14 - An All Nippon Airways Douglas DC-3 aircraft crashes into Mount Nakanoone in Shizuoka Prefecture, killing both occupants of the plane.
• February 22 - A gas explosion at a coal mine in Hokkaido kills 61.
• June 1 - Coal mine explosion in Fukuoka Prefecture kills 237.
• June 22 - Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea signed in Tokyo.
• August 1 - According to an official confirmed report from the Japan Coast Guard, the cruise ship Yasoshima Maru collided with a runaway tugboat and capsized in Osaka Bay, total 20 passenger and crew were lost to lives.^{[citation needed]}
• September 18 - Comet Ikeya–Seki first sighted by Japanese astronomers.
• October 7 - Seven Japanese fishing boat capsized near Agrihan Island by Typhoon Carmen, According to an official confirmed report from the JCG, total 209 crew were fatalities.
• October 15 - Meijō Line begins operations.
• Unknown date – Kyoto Sangyo University was founded.^{[citation needed]}

• January 5 - Rei Sakuma, voice actress
• January 14 - Shouhei Kusaka (Born Hiroshi Tokoro), actor of 1989 Metal Hero Series Kidou Keiji Jiban.
• February 18 – Masaki Saito, former professional baseball pitcher
• March 20 - Taeko Kawata, voice actress
• March 21 - Wakana Yamazaki, voice actress
• April 15 - Sōichi Noguchi, astronaut
• April 22 - Arihiro Hase, actor and voice actor (d. 1996)
• May 2 - Aohisa Takayasu, actor of 1992 Super Sentai Series Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger.
• May 8 - Momoko Sakura, Japanese manga artist (Chibi Maruko-chan) (d. 2018)
• May 10 - Kiyoyuki Yanada, voice actor
• May 13 - Hikari Ōta, comedian
• May 23 - Kappei Yamaguchi, voice actor
• May 24 - Shinichiro Watanabe, anime director
• May 31 - Yōko Sōmi, voice actress
• June 6 - Megumi Ogata, voice actress and singer
• June 11 - Yasuko Sawaguchi, actress
• July 3 - Shinya Hashimoto, professional wrestler (d. 2005)
• July 13 - Akina Nakamori, pop singer and actress.
• August 2 - Hisanobu Watanabe, baseball player and coach
• August 18
  • Kōji Kikkawa, singer
  • Ikue Ōtani, voice actress
• August 28 - Satoshi Tajiri, video game designer, creator of Pokémon
• September 27 - Robert Baldwin, actor
• October 4 - Michiko Neya, voice actress
• October 7 - Kumiko Watanabe, voice actress
• November 20
  • Yoshiki Hayashi, rock composer, pianist and drummer (X Japan)
  • Takeshi Kusao, voice actor
• November 21 - Yuriko Yamaguchi, voice actress
• November 29 - Yutaka Ozaki, songwriter and rock star (d. 1992)
• November 30 - Fumihito, Crown Prince of Japan
• December 7 - Teruyuki Kagawa, actor
• December 8 - Kotono Mitsuishi, voice actress
• December 26 - Toshihide Wakamatsu, actor of 1991 Super Sentai Series Chojin Sentai Jetman.

• March 4 – Hachirō Arita, politician (b. 1884)
• July 19 – Haruo Umezaki, writer (b. 1915)
• July 28 – Rampo Edogawa, author and critic (b. 1894)
• July 30 – Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, writer, novelist (b. 1886)
• August 13 – Hayato Ikeda, Prime Minister (b. 1899)
• December 27 – Morita Fukui, lawyer, prosecutor, politician and first Commissioner of baseball in Japan (b. 1885)
• December 29 – Kosaku Yamada, composer and conductor (b. 1886)

• 1965 in Japanese television
• List of Japanese films of 1965