2004 in Japan
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Events in the year 2004 in Japan.
2004 was the population "peak" of Japan—the last year in which the national population increased.[citation needed] [1]
Incumbents
- Emperor: Akihito
- Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi (L–Kanagawa)
- Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yasuo Fukuda (L–Gunma) until May 7, Hiroyuki Hosoda (L–Shimane)
- Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Akira Machida
- President of the House of Representatives: Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa)
- President of the House of Councillors: Hiroyuki Kurata (L–Chiba) until July 30, Chikage Ōgi (L–proportional)
- Diet sessions: 159th (regular, January 19 to June 15), 160th (extraordinary, July 30 to August 6), 161st (October 12 to December 3)
Events
January
- January 19: Deployment of Japanese troops to Iraq begins as the first set of ground forces arrive in Samawah.
February
- February 27: Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara is given the death penalty.
March
- March 4: Famed Yomiuri Giants manager Shigeo Nagashima is hospitalized.
- March 13: First segment of the Kyushu Shinkansen opens.
- March 17: Tokyo District Court issues an injunction halting the sale of Bungei Shunju issues due to a breach of privacy suit by Makiko Tanaka.
- March 24: Chinese activists land in the Senkaku Islands and are arrested by Okinawan police.
- March 30: Nurse Daisuke Mori is sentenced to life imprisonment.[2]
April
- April 1
- Japan Airlines and Japan Air System merge.
- New Tokyo International Airport is privatized and renamed Narita International Airport.
- Teito Rapid Transit Authority becomes Tokyo Metro.
- April 7: Three Japanese civilians taken hostage in Iraq.
- April 8: Economist and graduate school professor Kazuhide Uekusa is arrested for trying to peep under a schoolgirl's skirt on the escalator of JR Shinagawa Station.
May
- May 10
- Winny developer Isamu Kaneko, assistant instructor at Tokyo University, is arrested on charges of contributory copyright infringement.
- Crown Prince Naruhito denounces palace officials at a press conference, suggesting that Crown Princess Masako is physically and mentally sick.
- May 22: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visits Pyongyang to bring back 5 Japanese youths who were born while their parents were hostages in North Korea.
June
- June 1: An 11-year-old girl kills her classmate at a Sasebo elementary school.
July
- July 1: Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range enlisted as a world heritage site.
- July 8: Naha District Court in Okinawa sentences US Marine Major Michael Brown to a suspended one-year prison term on charge of attempted rape against a Filipina.
- July 11: In elections for the Upper House. the LDP suffers a small setback.
- July 18: Heavy rain disaster, re-dike collapse and sediment collapse in Fukui, Sanjō, Niigata and Tadami, Fukushima, resulting to 20 persons fatalities.[3][4]
- July 21: Koizumi meets Roh Moo-hyun at Jeju Island in South Korea.
- July 30: Chikage Ogi becomes the first female Speaker of the House of Councillors.
August
- August 9: An obsolete steam pipe at Mihama Nuclear Plant blows up, killing four workers.
September
- September 3: World Rally Championship held in Japan for the first time.
- September 8: Typhoon Songda hit in western Honshu area, according to official document figure, 45 person fatalities, with injures 1324.[5]
- September 17: Japanese baseball players announce a weekend strike, the first baseball strike in Japanese history.
- September 27: Koizumi reshuffles his cabinet.
October
- October 20: Typhoon Tokage makes landfall in Japan.
- October 23: The Chūetsu earthquake strikes Niigata Prefecture, causing widespread damage to the area.
November
- November 1: Bank of Japan issues new 10,000, 5,000 and 1,000-yen banknotes.
- November 2: Japan's first new professional baseball franchise in 50 years is awarded to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
December
- December 24: Fukuoka Daiei Hawks are sold to SoftBank and become the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Births
- June 1: Miyu Honda, child actress
- June 17: Fuku Suzuki, child actor
- June 23: Mana Ashida, child actress
- September 25: Seiran Kobayashi, child actress
Deaths
- January 1: Isao Tamagawa, actor
- January 24: Tomio Aoki, actor
- February 2: Michio Hikitsuchi, aikido instructor
- February 6: Masataka Ida, soldier
- February 11: Hitoshi Takagi voice actor
- March 5: Masanori Tokita, football player
- March 20: Chosuke Ikariya, comdedian and film actor
- April 21: Den Fujita, president of McDonald's Japan
- May 21: Toshikazu Kase, civil servant and career diplomat
- July 19: Zenkō Suzuki, politician, Prime minister
- July 26: Ramo Nakajima, novelist
- September 14: Mamoru Takuma, murderer (executed)
- October 7: Miki Matsubara, singer, lyricist and composer
- November 6: Kensaburo Hara, politician
- November 17: Ariyama Kaede, murder victim
- November 24: Taiji Kase, master of Shotokan karate
- November 26: Shōgo Shimada, actor
- December 18: Kikuko, Princess Takamatsu
Statistics
- GDP: ¥504 trillion (+1.4%)
- Nikkei 225: High 12,163.89; low 10,365.40
- Wealthiest person in Japan: Nobutada Saji (net worth 6.9 billion USD)
- Yen: High ¥101.83/USD; low ¥114.80/USD
See also
References
- ^ Banyan. "Japan's demography The incredible shrinking country". http://www.economist.com/. The Economist. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
{{cite web}}: External link in|website= - ^ "The case of the killer nurse". Japan Today. 2004-04-06. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
- ^ ja:平成16年7月新潟・福島豪雨
- ^ ja:平成16年7月福井豪雨
- ^ ja:平成16年台風第18号
