Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. B ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Shinzō Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...

Yasuo Fukuda is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving in that role from 2000 to 2004 under Prime Ministers Yoshirō M ...

Kaoru Yosano (August 22, 1938 – May 23, 2017) was a Japanese politician. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the Sunrise Party of Japan and former member of the House of Representatives, serving his ninth term in the Lower House represe ...

Nobutaka Machimura was a Japanese politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan and a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.Supreme Court: Nirō Shimada * President of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

:

Yōhei Kōno is a Japanese politician and a former President of the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from November 2003 until August 2009, when the LDP lost its majority in the 2009 election. Kōno served as sp ...

(L–Kanagawa) * President of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or ...

:

Chikage Ōgi , real name (born 10 May 1933 as , is a Japanese actress and politician. During her 30-year-long political career, she served in some important posts. She became the first female President of the House of Councillors in 2004. Her pseudonymous ...

(L–proportional) until July 28,

Satsuki Eda was a Japanese politician who was the first opposition member to serve as the President of the House of Councillors in Japan. Eda had served for three terms in the House of Councillors before his election as President on 7 August 2007, after the ...

( D–Okayama) *

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

sessions: 166th (regular, January 25 to July 5), 167th (extraordinary, August 7 to August 10), 168th (extraordinary, September 10 to 2008, January 15)

Governors

* Aichi Prefecture:

Masaaki Kanda is a Japanese politician who served as governor of Aichi Prefecture in 1999–2011. A graduate of Chuo University, he served as mayor of Ichinomiya is a Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a pro ...

*Akita Prefecture:

Sukeshiro Terata was the governor of Akita Prefecture. A native of Ōmagari, Akita and graduate of Waseda University, he was first elected to the post in 1997 after serving as mayor of Yokote, Akita since 1991. He ran in House of Councillors election in 2010 a ...

*Aomori Prefecture:

Shingo Mimura is a Japanese Politician who is currently serving as Governor of Aomori Prefecture since June 29, 2003. He previously served as a member of House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries ...

*Chiba Prefecture:

Akiko Dōmoto was the governor of Chiba Prefecture in Japan from 2001 to 2009. A graduate of Tokyo Woman's Christian University , often abbreviated to TWCU or , is an independent Protestant university in Tokyo, Japan. Founding TWCU was established by Nit ...

*Ehime Prefecture:

Moriyuki Kato was a governor of Ehime Prefecture. He was first elected in 1999 and held the position until he was defeated by Tokihiro Nakamura in 2010. A native of Yawatahama, Ehime and graduate of the University of Tokyo, he joined the Ministry of Educatio ...

*Fukui Prefecture:

Issei Nishikawa is a Japanese politician and a former governor of Fukui Prefecture in Japan. He was elected first in 2003. A native of Asahi, Fukui and graduate of Kyoto University with the B.L. degree in 1968, he joined the Ministry of Home Affairs An inter ...

*Fukuoka Prefecture:

Wataru Asō is the former governor of Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan, first elected in 1995. From 2005-11 he was also President of the . A native of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka and graduate of Kyoto University, he joined the Ministry of International Trade and Indus ...

*Fukushima Prefecture:

Yūhei Satō is a former governor of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. He was first elected in November 2006, after the previous governor, Eisaku Satō, was forced to step down after bribery charges. He chose not to seek a third term in the election held in Octo ...

*Gifu Prefecture:

Hajime Furuta is the governor of Gifu Prefecture in Japan, first elected in 2005 and reelected in 2009. A native of Gifu, Gifu, he was chosen as the final torchbearer for the National Sports Festival when it was held in Gifu while he was a senior at Gifu Pre ...

*Gunma Prefecture:

Hiroyuki Kodera is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Hiroki can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: extensive, good fortune, spacious. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . It is written in hir ...

(until 27 July);

Masaaki Osawa Masaaki (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese politician *, Japanese poet *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese singer-songwriter * ...

(starting 28 July) * Hiroshima Prefecture:

Yūzan Fujita was a Japanese politician and the governor of Hiroshima Prefecture from 1993 to 2009. A native of Minami-ku, Hiroshima and graduate of Keio University, he had served in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan since 1989 for one term befor ...

*

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

:

Harumi Takahashi is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party and currently a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature). She served as governor of the prefecture of Hokkaido for four terms from 2003 to 2019. She gradu ...

*Hyogo Prefecture:

Toshizō Ido is a Japanese politician and the 48th - 52nd governor of Hyōgo Prefecture in Japan. He became the Governor of Hyōgo Profecture in 2001, a position he held for 5 terms over 20 years. He is a native of Tatsuno, Hyōgo and graduate of the Un ...

*

Ibaraki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Tochigi Prefecture ...

:

Masaru Hashimoto is Japanese politician who was the governor of Ibaraki Prefecture from 1993 to 2017. Life Masaru Hashimoto was born on 19 November 1945 in Tōkai, Ibaraki Prefecture. He is a graduate of the University of Tokyo, and joined the Ministry of H ...

* Ishikawa Prefecture:

Masanori Tanimoto is a Japanese politician who was the governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official ...

*Iwate Prefecture:

Hiroya Masuda is a Japanese politician, government official, and business executive. He was Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications from August 2007 to September 2008, and has served as the president and CEO of Japan Post Holdings since January 2020. ...

(until 29 April);

Takuya Tasso is a Japanese politician and the current governor of Iwate Prefecture. He is a native of Morioka and graduate of the University of Tokyo. Biography Tasso joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988, receiving a master's degree in intern ...

(starting 30 April) *Kagawa Prefecture:

Takeki Manabe is a Japanese politician who was the 43rd governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's offi ...

*Kagoshima Prefecture:

Satoshi Mitazono is a Japanese politician and journalist who is the former governor of Kagoshima Prefecture. He defeated the incumbent Yūichirō Itō at an election held on 10 July 2016. Early life and education Mitazono was born in Ibusuki, Kagoshima in 1958. ...

*

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

:

Shigefumi Matsuzawa is a Japanese politician and a current member of the House of Councillors for the Kanagawa at-large district in the Diet of Japan. A native of Kawasaki, Kanagawa and graduate of Keio University with a bachelor's degree in Political Science, h ...

*Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto (until 6 December);

Masanao Ozaki is a Japanese politician. He became governor of Kōchi Prefecture in Japan on December 7, 2007. He is a graduate of the University of Tokyo with the Bachelor of Economics degree in 1991 and a former bureaucrat of the Ministry of the Treasury ( ...

(starting 7 December) *

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, M ...

: Yoshiko Shiotani * Kyoto Prefecture:

Keiji Yamada is a Japanese politician and former Governor of Kyoto Prefecture. A native of Hyōgo Prefecture and 1977 graduate of the University of Tokyo, he had worked at the Ministry of Home Affairs since 1977 and served as the vice governor of Kyoto Prefec ...

*Mie Prefecture: Akihiko Noro * Miyagi Prefecture:

Yoshihiro Murai is a Japanese politician and current governor of Miyagi Prefecture. A native of Toyonaka, Osaka and former serviceman of Japan Self-Defense Forces, he was first elected governor in 2005 after serving in the assembly of the prefecture since 1995. ...

*Miyazaki Prefecture: Kayoko Saka (until 22 January);

Hideo Higashikokubaru is a Japanese politician. He originally rose to fame as a comedian and actor under the stage name , and was known for his role in the popular game show ''Takeshi's Castle''. He served as the Governor of Miyazaki Prefecture from 2007 to 2011, re ...

(starting 23 January) * Nagano Prefecture: Jin Murai *Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko *Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto (until 2 May);

Shōgo Arai is a Japanese politician and the current governor of Nara Prefecture in Japan, first elected in 2007. A graduate of the University of Tokyo, he joined the Ministry of Transport, attending Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Syrac ...

(starting 2 May) *

Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...

: Hirohiko Izumida *Oita Prefecture: Katsusada Hirose * Okayama Prefecture:

Masahiro Ishii was the governor of Okayama Prefecture in Japan from November 1996 until November 2012. A native of Okayama, Okayama and graduate of the University of Tokyo, he had worked at the Ministry of Construction since 1969 before being elected governor. ...

* Okinawa Prefecture:

Hirokazu Nakaima is a Japanese bureaucrat, business leader, and politician. He was elected governor of Okinawa Prefecture in 2006. Biography Nakaima was born on August 19, 1939 in Higashinari Ward of Osaka. He is of Ryukyuan descent. Nakaima is descended from ...

* Osaka Prefecture: Fusae Ōta *

Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasa ...

: Yasushi Furukawa * Saitama Prefecture:

Kiyoshi Ueda is a Japanese politician currently serving as a member of the House of Councillors for the Saitama at-large district after winning a by-election in 2019. He has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, signaling his opposition to any and all tax ...

*

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the north ...

:

Yukiko Kada is a Japanese politician and member of the National Diet of Japan, serving as member of the House of Councillors from Shiga Prefecture since 2019. She was the prefectural governor of Shiga for two terms from 2006 to 2014. She is from Honjō, Sa ...

*Shiname Prefecture:

Nobuyoshi Sumita Nobuyoshi (written: 信吉, 信芳, 信義, 信喜, 信由, 経惟) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese photographer and artist *, Japanese chief executive *, Japanese sumo wrestler *, Japanese com ...

(until 29 April); Zenbe Mizoguchi (starting 30 April) *Shizuoka Prefecture:

Yoshinobu Ishikawa was the governor of Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan, first elected in 1993. A native of Kakegawa, Shizuoka, formerly known as Daitō, Shizuoka, and graduate of the University of Tokyo, Department of Law, he had worked at the Ministry of Home Af ...

*Tochigi Prefecture:

Tomikazu Fukuda is the governor of Tochigi Prefecture in Japan, first elected in 2004. A native of Imaichi, Tochigi and graduate of Nihon University, he had served in the city assembly of Utsunomiya, Tochigi since 1983 and then in the Tochigi Prefectural Assembl ...

*Tokushima Prefecture:

Kamon Iizumi is a Japanese politician and the current governor of Tokushima Prefecture in Japan, first elected in 2003. A native of Ikeda, Osaka and graduate of the University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university locat ...

*

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

:

Shintarō Ishihara was a Japanese politician and writer who was Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the radical right Japan Restoration Party, he was one of the most prominent ultranationalists in modern Japanese politics. An ultra ...

*Tottori Prefecture:

Yoshihiro Katayama was the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan from September 2010 through September 2011. He was the governor of Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture ...

(until 13 April);

Shinji Hirai is a Japanese politician, the governor of Tottori Prefecture in Japan, first elected in 2007. He graduated from the University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Establ ...

(starting 13 April) *Toyama Prefecture: Takakazu Ishii *Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshinobu Nisaka *Yamagata Prefecture: Hiroshi Saitō *Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii *Yamanashi Prefecture: Takahiko Yamamoto (until 16 February); Shōmei Yokouchi (starting 17 February)

Events

January

* January 23 – A rare eel-like creature identified as a frilled shark is discovered in Japan by fishermen.

February

* February 20 – A power outage strikes the central area of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

. * February 26 – A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes off the southern coast of Japan's Ryukyu Island.

March

* March 25 – A

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

occurs on the northern coast of Japan after an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

with a magnitude of 6.9 in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...

.

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

reports that 1 person has died and 40 have been injured. * March 26 –

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Sta ...

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...

apologizes for Japan's use of

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

as sex slaves in frontline brothels during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

.

April

* April 1 – Niigata and

Hamamatsu is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview Ha ...

become cities designated by government ordinance. * April 8 – Voters go to the polls in Japan for the first phase of the unified local elections including 13 gubernatorial elections, 44 prefectural assembly elections and 4 mayoral races in major cities. * April 10 – The

government of Japan The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary stat ...

extends

economic sanctions Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they ma ...

against the

North Korean government In the North Korean government, the Cabinet is the administrative and executive body. The North Korean government consists of three branches: administrative, legislative, and judicial. However, they are not independent of each other, but al ...

by an additional six months, citing a lack of progress in resolving kidnapping cases of Japanese citizens. * April 16 – The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, Japan and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

carry out a joint naval exercise in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

in an attempt to increase strategic cooperation. * April 17 – Iccho Ito, the mayor of

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

, Japan, is shot at least twice outside his re-election campaign headquarters. The assassin, Tetsuya Shiroo, is alleged to be a senior member of a local gang affiliated to the

Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's largest '' yakuza'' organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for dockworkers in Kobe before World War II. It is one of the largest criminal organizations i ...

crime syndicate. Itoh was taken to the

Nagasaki University is a national university of Japan. Its nickname is ''Chōdai'' (). The main campus is located in Bunkyo-machi, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. History Nagasaki University was established in 1949 by incorporating several nation ...

Hospital, where he died early the next morning due to loss of blood. * April 22 – In the second phase of the unified local elections, hundreds of municipal elections and two by-elections for the national Diet are held. * April 25 –

Japanese police The is a law enforcement agency under the National Public Safety Commission (Japan), National Public Safety Commission of the Cabinet Office (Japan), Cabinet Office. It is the central agency of the Law enforcement in Japan, Japanese police syst ...

raid the offices of a pro-North Korean group in relation to the alleged kidnapping of two children in the 1970s.

May

* May 14 – The

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or ...

passes rules for revising the pacifist

Constitution of Japan The Constitution of Japan ( Shinjitai: , Kyūjitai: , Hepburn: ) is the constitution of Japan and the supreme law in the state. Written primarily by American civilian officials working under the Allied occupation of Japan, the constitutio ...

. * May 28 **

Riyo Mori (born December 24, 1986) is a Japanese actress, dancer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico City. Personal life An only child, Riyo Mori began dancing at the age of 4. She has studied at Quinte Ballet School of ...

becomes

Miss Universe 2007 Miss Universe 2007 was the 56th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, Mexico on May 28, 2007. At the end of the event, Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico crowned Riyo Mori from Japan as Miss Universe 2007. It is Ja ...

in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, the second Japanese to do so after

Akiko Kojima is a Japanese model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1959, making her the first Japanese and Asian woman to win the title. Biography Kojima was a 22-year-old model from Tokyo, Japan when she bested four other finalists from Nor ...

. ** Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Toshikatsu Matsuoka was a Japanese politician who served as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2006 until his suicide in 2007 amid a financial scandal. Early life and education He was born in Aso, Kumamoto, Kyūshū on 25 February 1945. Hi ...

is found dead at his Tokyo home, hours before he was to face questions in the Diet about his expenses.

June

* June 1 – Archaeologists discover a 2,100-year-old melon in

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the north ...

. * June 21 – Japan changes the name of Iwo Jima to its original name, Iwo To, to reflect the wishes of its original inhabitants.

July

* July 3 – Japan's Minister of Defense

Fumio Kyuma Fumio (written: , , , , , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese illustrator *Fumio Abe (1922–2006), Japanese politician *Fumio Asaki, Japanese ski jumping sports official *, J ...

resigns over comments he made about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the weekend. * July 4 – Japan's first female Minister of Defense,

Yuriko Koike is a Japanese politician who currently serves as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. She graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1976 and was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan from 1993 until 2016, when she resigned to ...

, is sworn in a day after the resignation of her predecessor,

Fumio Kyuma Fumio (written: , , , , , , , or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese illustrator *Fumio Abe (1922–2006), Japanese politician *Fumio Asaki, Japanese ski jumping sports official *, J ...

. * July 16 –

2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake The ) was a powerful magnitude 6.6 earthquake that occurred 10:13 local time (01:13 UTC) on July 16, 2007, in the northwest Niigata region of Japan. The earthquake, which occurred at a previously unknown offshore fault shook Niigata and ne ...

, eleven deaths and at least 1000 injuries were reported, and 342 buildings destroyed. * July 29 – House of Councillors election

August

* August 1 – Norihiko Akagi resigns as Japan's

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

minister after scandals involving him adversely affected the Liberal Democratic Party's performance in the

2007 Japanese House of Councillors election House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on July 29, 2007. The date was originally to be July 22, but the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) decided in mid-June to extend the session of the House for a week to finish up legislative b ...

. * August 24 – Murder of Rie Isogai * August 25 – The 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics get underway in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Japan. * August 31 –

Crypton Future Media , or simply Crypton, is a Japanese media company based in Sapporo, Japan. It develops, imports, and sells products for music, such as sound generator software, sampling CDs and DVDs, and sound effect and background music libraries. The company al ...

's first

Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project led by Kenmochi Hideki at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, in 2000 and was not originally intended to b ...

on their Character Vocal Series, Hatsune Miku, is released for

Vocaloid 2 Vocaloid 2 is a singing voice synthesizer and the successor to the Vocaloid voice synthesizer application by Yamaha. Unlike the first engine, Vocaloid 2 based its output on vocal samples, rather than voice analysis. The synthesis engine and the u ...

software.

September

* September 12 – Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...

announces his resignation. * September 14 – The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully launches

SELENE In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of ...

, the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program, on a mission to explore the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

. * September 23 –

Yasuo Fukuda is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving in that role from 2000 to 2004 under Prime Ministers Yoshirō M ...

, a political moderate, is elected by Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party to become the country's next prime minister.

November

* November 18 – Japan resumes

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

of humpbacks for the first time in 40 years. Greenpeace and other

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

groups condemn the decision. * November 28 – The

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

Type 051B destroyer ''Shenzhen'' visits

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

in the first visit of a Chinese warship to Japan since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

.

December

*December 19 – A 32-year-old police sergeant shoots himself inside a

kōban A is a small neighborhood police station found in Japan. The term also refers to the smallest organizational unit in a modern Japanese Prefectural police department. Small kōban buildings, staffed by uniformed officers at around 6,000 locatio ...

in front of

Tokyo Station Tokyo Station ( ja, 東京駅, ) is a railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is not far from the Ginza ...

.

Births

*August 30 – Momiji Nishiya, Olympic skateboarder

Deaths

*January 5 –

Momofuku Ando , was an inventor and businessman who founded Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. He is known as the inventor of instant noodles (ramen noodles) and the creator of the brands Top Ramen and Cup Noodles. Early life and education Ando was born Go P ...

, inventor of Instant noodles and

Cup Noodles Cup noodle is a registered trademark of Nissin Foods and is known as precooked instant noodle with flavoring powder and/or seasoning sauce sold in a polystyrene, polyethylene, or paper cup. The flavoring can be in a separate packet or loose in t ...

, founder of

Nissin Foods Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. is a Japanese food company that specializes in the production and sale of convenience food and instant noodles. History Founding and early years The company was established in Japan on September 1, 1948, by T ...

*January 8 –

Iwao Takamoto Iwao Takamoto (April 29, 1925 – January 8, 2007) was a Japanese-American animator, television producer, and film director. He began his career as a production and character designer for Walt Disney Animation Studios films such as ''Cinderella ...

, animator *April 18 –

Iccho Itoh was a Japanese politician who served as the mayor of Nagasaki from 1995 to 2007. Itoh was fatally shot by Tetsuya Shiroo, a member of the ''yakuza'', on 17 April 2007 and died the following morning. Early life Kazunaga Itō was born on 23 Augu ...

, mayor of

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

*May 3 –

Knock Yokoyama was a Japanese politician and comedian. Born Isamu Yamada (山田勇 ''Yamada Isamu'') in Kobe, he adopted his current stage name while directing the ''Manga Trio'' manzai troupe from 1959 to 1968. Following his comedy years, he went into the ...

, comedian and politician *May 27 –

Izumi Sakai , known professionally as , was a female Japanese pop singer, songwriter, and member of the group Zard. As Sakai was the only member who stayed in the group while others joined and left regularly, Zard and Sakai may be referred to interchangeably. ...

, singer *May 28 –

Toshikatsu Matsuoka was a Japanese politician who served as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries from 2006 until his suicide in 2007 amid a financial scandal. Early life and education He was born in Aso, Kumamoto, Kyūshū on 25 February 1945. Hi ...

, politician *June 28 –

Kiichi Miyazawa was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1991 to 1993. He was a member of the National Diet of Japan for over 50 years. Early life and education Miyazawa was born into a wealthy, politically active family in Fukuyama ...

, 78th

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

*July 18 – Kenji Miyamoto, politician *August 28 –

Miyoshi Umeki was a Japanese-American singer and actress.Bernstein, Adam ''The Washington Post''. 5 September 2007. Umeki was a Tony Award- and Golden Globe-nominated actress and the first East Asian-American woman to win an Academy Award for acting. Life Bo ...

, actress *September 7 –

Kenji Nagai was a Japanese photojournalist who took many assignments to conflict zones and dangerous areas around the world. He was shot dead in Myanmar (also known as Burma) during the Saffron Revolution. Nagai continued to take photographs as he lay wou ...

, journalist (b.

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

) *October 7 –

Norifumi Abe , or was a Japanese professional motorcycle road racer who was previously a 500 cc/MotoGP rider. He died in a road traffic crash in October 2007. Career Abe was born to , a paved flat track rider, in Tokyo. When he was eleven, Abe began raci ...

, motorcycle road racer *October 12 –

Kurokawa Kisho (April 8, 1934 – October 12, 2007) was a leading Japanese architect and one of the founders of the Metabolist Movement. Biography Born in Kanie, Aichi, Kurokawa studied architecture at Kyoto University, graduating with a bachelor's ...

, architect *November 13 –

Kazuhisa Inao was a Japanese professional baseball pitcher. In 1957, he won 20 consecutive games. In 1958 Japan Series, he pitched six games and won 4 consecutive games after his team lost 3 games. He even hit a home run in fifth game of Japan Series. He was t ...

, baseball player

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2007 In Japan Years of the 21st century in Japan

Incumbents