Events in the year 2003 in Japan.

Incumbents

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 ...

Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi (; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a former Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 2009. He is ...

( L–Kanagawa) * Chief Cabinet Secretary:

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 ...

(L–Gunma) * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Akira Machida * 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 ...

Tamisuke Watanuki is a Japanese politician from the Toyama Prefecture. He started his own export-import company at age 28. He graduated from the Department of Economics at Keio University and ran for the Prefectural Assembly in 1959. He was elected to the Di ...

(L–Toyama) until October 10,

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) from November 19 * 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 ...

: Hiroyuki Kurata (L–Chiba) *

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: 156th (regular, January 20 to July 28), 157th (extraordinary, September 26 to October 10), 158th (special, November 21)

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:

Morio Kimura Morio (written: , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor *, Japanese anime director *, Japanese karateka *, Japanese actor *, pen-name of Sokichi Saitō, ...

(until 1 July);

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 ...

(starting 1 July) *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:

Yukio Kurita Yukio is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yukio can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *幸夫, "happiness, man" *幸生, "happiness, live" *幸男, "happiness, man" *幸雄, ...

(until 22 April);

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 ...

(starting 23 April) *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:

Eisaku Satō was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister from 1964 to 1972. He is the third-longest serving Prime Minister, and ranks second in longest uninterrupted service as Prime Minister. Satō entered the National Diet in 1949 as a membe ...

*Gifu Prefecture:

Taku Kajiwara Taku may refer to: Places North America * the Taku River, in Alaska and British Columbia ** Fort Taku, also known as Fort Durham and as Taku, a former fort of the Hudson's Bay Company near the mouth of the Taku River ** the Taku Glacier, in A ...

*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 ...

* 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 ...

Tatsuya Hori is a Japanese politician. He was director of the Hokkaidō-Kitami University. From 1995 he served as governor of Hokkaidō for two terms totalling 8 years. He was chairman of the board of Sapporo University. He was associate professor at Tokyo ...

(until 22 April);

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 ...

(starting 23 April) *Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido *

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 * Ishikawa Prefecture: Masanori Tanimoto *Iwate Prefecture: Hiroya Masuda *Kagawa Prefecture: Takeki Manabe *Kagoshima Prefecture: Tatsurō Suga *

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 ...

: Hiroshi Okazaki (until 22 April);

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 ...

(starting 23 April) *Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto *

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: Masayasu Kitagawa (until 21 April) Akihiko Noro (starting 21 April) * Miyagi Prefecture: Shirō Asano *Miyazaki Prefecture: Suketaka Matsukata (until 4 August);

Tadahiro Ando was the Governor of Miyazaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,073,054 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 7,735 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

(starting 5 August) * Nagano Prefecture: Yasuo Tanaka *Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko *Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto *

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 ...

Ikuo Hirayama Ikuo Hirayama (''Hirayama Ikuo'' 平山郁夫; 15 June 1930 – 2 December 2009), was a Japanese Nihonga painter and educator. Born in Setoda, Hiroshima, Setoda-chō, Hiroshima Prefecture, he was famous in Japan for Silk Road paintings of drea ...

*Oita Prefecture: Morihiko Hiramatsu (until 27 April); Katsusada Hirose (starting 28 April) * 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:

Keiichi Inamine is a Japanese politician who served as the fifth Governor of Okinawa from 1998 until 2006. He studied at, and graduated from, Keio University.

* 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 ...

: Isamu Imoto (until 22 April); Yasushi Furukawa (starting 23 April) * Saitama Prefecture: ** until 18 July:

Yoshihiko Tsuchiya Yoshihiko is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yoshihiko can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義彦, "justice, elegant boy" *義比古, "justice, young man (archaic)" *吉� ...

** 18 July-31 July: Nobuyuki Aoki ** starting 31 August:

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 ...

: Yoshitsugu Kunimatsu *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 ...

*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:

Akio Fukuda is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Imaichi, Tochigi and graduate of Tohoku University, he joined the city government of I ...

*Tokushima Prefecture: Tadashi Ōta (until 30 March);

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 ...

(starting 18 May) *

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 *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 ...

*Toyama Prefecture: Yutaka Nakaoki *Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshiki Kimura *Yamagata Prefecture:

Kazuo Takahashi , ring name , is a Japanese retired mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1993 until 2013 (and then once again in 2018), he competed for the UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships, Pancrase, RINGS, K-1 HERO'S, and World Victory Roa ...

*Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii *Yamanashi Prefecture: Ken Amano (until 2 February); Takahiko Yamamoto (starting 2 February)

Events

January

*January:

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

launches all-new Avensis to be built in Britain. *January 14: Koizumi visits the

Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 resp ...

. *January 27:

All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had m ...

Flight 908 overshoots the runway at Narita International Airport. *January 29:

Asashōryū Akinori is a Mongolian former professional sumo wrestler ('' rikishi''). He was the 68th '' yokozuna'' in the history of the sport in Japan, and in January 2003 he became the first Mongolian to reach sumo's highest rank. He was one of the most succes ...

becomes the first

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

to reach the rank of

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

sumo wrestling is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

March

*March 19: Extension of the Eidan Hanzomon Line from Suitengumae to Oshiage becomes operational. *March 31: Agriculture Minister

Tadamori Oshima Tadamori is a Japanese surname and masculine given name. Kanji Kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system durin ...

resigns due to a farm subsidy scandal; Koizumi replaces him with

Yoshiyuki Kamei was a Japanese politician and member of the House of Representatives of Japan representing Kanagawa Prefecture. Biography Yoshiyuki Kamei was born on 30 April 1936. He graduated from Keio University in 1962. He was Minister of Agricult ...

April

*April 1 **The Postal Agency becomes

Japan Post was a Japanese statutory corporation that existed from 2003 to 2007, offering postal and package delivery services, banking services, and life insurance. It's the nation's largest employer, with over 400,000 employees, and runs 24,700 po ...

, a public corporation. ** Saitama becomes a

city designated by government ordinance A , also known as a or , is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by order of the Cabinet of Japan under Article 252, Section 19, of the Local Autonomy Law. Designated cities are delegate ...

. ** Square Co., Ltd. and Enix Corporation merge to become Square Enix. *April 11: An explosion at a fireworks factory in

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

kills 10. *April 15:

Tokyo Disneyland (local nickname ''TDL'') is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to ...

celebrates its 20th anniversary. *April 25: Grand opening of

Roppongi Hills is a development project in Tokyo and one of Japan's largest integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo. Constructed by building tycoon Minoru Mori, the mega-complex incorporates office space, apartm ...

May

*May 9: The uncrewed spacecraft

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. ''Hayabusa'', formerly known as MUSES-C fo ...

is launched from

Uchinoura Space Center The is a space launch facility in the Japanese town of Kimotsuki, Kagoshima Prefecture. Before the establishment of the JAXA space agency in 2003, it was simply called the (KSC). All of Japan's scientific satellites were launched from Uchino ...

July

*July 7:

Noto Airport , marketed as and also unofficially known as is a domestic airport located south southeast of the city of Wajima on the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an isla ...

opens. *July 26: Diet of Japan authorizes the

deployment of Japanese troops to Iraq The Japanese Iraq Reconstruction and Support Group
Retrieved on December 5, 2008. or al ...

August

*August 10:

Okinawa Urban Monorail The , also known as , is a monorail line serving the cities of Naha and Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan. Operated by , it opened on 10 August 2003, and is the only public rail system in Okinawa Prefecture. Yui Rail is the first rail line on Okinawa ...

opens.

September

*September 20: Koizumi announces a new cabinet:

Taro Aso Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afric ...

becomes Minister of Internal Affairs, Shoichi Nakagawa becomes Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry,

Sadakazu Tanigaki is a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1983 to 2016, as Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006, as President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2009 to 2012, as Minist ...

becomes Minister of Finance and

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 ...

becomes Minister of Environment. *September 23: Nissan begins production at a plant in Canton, Mississippi,

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 ...

. *September 26 ** The

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

merges into the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to centre-left liberal or social-liberal political party in Japan from 1998 to 2016. The party's origins lie in the previous Democratic ...

. ** 2003 Tokachi earthquake, a

Richter magnitude scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...

8.3 earthquake, following Richter magnitude scale 7.4 aftershock hit off south eastern

, according to Japan Fire and Disaster and Management Agency official confirmed report, two persons lives with 849 person were wounded. :ja:十勝沖地震#主な地震#2003年 (Japanese language) Retrieved date on 26 October 2017.

October

*October 1: Shinagawa Station opens platforms for the

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 1964, ...

. *October 10 **House of Representatives is dissolved. **The last wild

crested ibis The crested ibis (''Nipponia nippon''), also known as the Japanese crested ibis, Asian crested ibis or toki, is a large (up to long), white-plumaged ibis of pine forests, native to eastern Asia. Its head is partially bare, showing red skin, and ...

in Japan dies.

November

*November 9: In the 2003 general election, the

realizes a slight gain against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Births

*March 3: Momoko Okazaki, singer (

Babymetal (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese kawaii metal band consisting of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal" and Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal". The band is produced by Kobametal from the Amuse talent agency. Their vocals are backed by heavy metal instrume ...

) *November 1:

Kanon Kasuga (born November 1, 2003) is a Japanese child actress from Tokyo. Her agency is Nichi Park Productions, a division of Nippon TV. Television Dramas * Hataraki Man (2007, NTV) * Shōkōjo Seira (2009, TBS) * Natsu no Koi wa Nijiiro ni Kagayaku ...

, actress

Deaths

*January 12:

Kinji Fukasaku was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking," Fukasaku worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty yakuza films, typified by the ''Battles Without Honor ...

, film director *February 28:

Yō Inoue , also known by her stage name , was a Japanese voice actress. Inoue was diagnosed with lung cancer in late 2001, underwent treatments during 2002, and her condition deteriorated rapidly in the last month of her life. At the time of her death she ...

, voice actress *March 25:

Masato Furuoya was a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 2nd Yokohama Film Festival and at the 5th Hochi Film Award for '' Disciples of Hippocrates'' and at the 12th Yokohama Film Festival for '' Uchū no hōsoku''. He committed suicide on M ...

, actor *April 7:

Masato Yamanouchi was a Japanese voice actor. Yamanouchi died on April 7, 2003, due to complications from lung cancer. Filmography Television dramas *'' Akō Rōshi'' (1964) (Uesugi Tsunanori) *''Tokugawa Ieyasu'' (1983) (Ikoma Chikamasa) Television animatio ...

, voice actor *April 8: Maki Ishii, composer *April 17: Koji Kondo, football player *April 20:

Daijiro Kato was a Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, the 2001 250cc world champion, and the 2000 and 2002 Suzuka 8 Hours winner. He died as a result of injuries sustained after a crash during the 2003 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit ...

, motorcycle racer *May 1:

Kenji Yoshida is a Japanese anime producer, manga artist and illustrator best known as the co-founder of Tatsunoko Production. Yoshida is the younger brother of Tatsuo Yoshida and the older brother of Ippei Kuri. He replaced Tatsuo as president after the l ...

, animation film director and film producer *July 8: Etsuko Inada, figure skater *September 5: Yūji Aoki, manga artist *October 11: Sadateru Arikawa, aikido teacher *October 23:

Hiroshi Yoshimura was a Japanese musician and composer. He is considered a pioneer of ambient music in Japan. His music lies mostly in the minimalist genre of ''kankyō ongaku'', or environment music—soft electronic melodies infused with the sounds of nature: ...

, musician *November 1: Toshitaka Shimizu, voice actor *November 13: Mitoyo Kawate, oldest person in the world *December 26: Yoshio Shirai, boxer *Undated: Masahiro Yoshimura, swimmer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003 In Japan Years of the 21st century in Japan Japan Japan