Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/April

These are the selected anniversaries for April that appear on the Japan portal. The "edit" links edit the portal subpages that are displayed as sections here.

April 1

April 1:

Events

1867 - Japan participates in its first world expo, the Paris World Expo. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-seventh Day of the Second Month, 1867)
1880 - The Mitsubishi Foreign Exchange, the precursor to the Bank of Mitsubishi, is established.
1889 - Fukuoka City is established. The population at the time was a mere 50,847 people. The following year a proposal to change the name to Hakata City failed to pass by only one vote.
1914 - The Takarazuka Revue perform for the first time.
1929 - The Kotobukiya company, the predecessor to Suntory, begins selling the first whisky distilled in Japan.
1930 - Japan's first underground shopping center is opened in Ueno.
1940 - Income tax withholding begins.
1947 - The 6-3 system of education (6 years of compulsory grade school followed by 3 years of compulsory junior high school) is implemented. The goal of the new system was to achieve equality of education for all. A high school system was implemented the following year and a university system was implemented in 1949.
1957 - A law against prostitution is implemented.
1964 - Restrictions on overseas tourism are lifted.
1982 - The government begins minting 500 yen coins.
1985 - NTT and Japan Tobacco are established.
1987 - Japanese National Railways is split up and privatized.
1989 - Japan's first consumption tax is implemented. The tax started at 3% and was raised to 5% in 1997.
1989 - Sendai becomes the eleventh city designated by government ordinance.
1991 - Participation in the national pension scheme becomes compulsory for everyone between the ages of 20 and 60.
2001 - An electronic consumer goods recycling law is implemented.

Births

1220 - Emperor Go-Saga (d. 1272)
1920 - Toshiro Mifune (d. 1997), Chinese-Japanese actor and producer
1944 - Isao Kuraishi, actor
1971 - Shinji Nakano, race car driver
1976 - Yuka Yoshida, tennis player
1980 - Yūko Takeuchi, actress
1986 - Shunichi Miyamoto, voice actor and singer
1989 - Yumi Sugimoto, model, actress, and singer
1993 - Keito Okamoto, singer

Film and television

1980 - Shadow Warriors begins airing on Fuji Television and Kansai Telecasting Corporation, starring Sonny Chiba
2013 - Amachan begins airing on NHK, starring Rena Nōnen
2015 - April Fools, a comedy drama suspense film starring Erika Toda and Tori Matsuzaka

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April 2

April 2:

Events

1332 - Emperor Go-Daigo is exiled to Oki Island. (Traditional Japanese Date: Seventh Day of the Third Month, 1332)
1908 - Kitasato Shibasaburō and Shiga Kiyoshi form a Cancer Research Society.
1922 - Newspapers venture into the weekly magazine business with the launch of the Weekly Asahi and the Sunday Mainichi.
1932 - Construction of Ueno Station is completed.
1950 - Yoshikawa Eiji begins publishing his revision of The Tale of the Heike in the Weekly Asahi.
1951 - Five-hundred-yen paper bills make their first appearance featuring Iwakura Tomomi.
1954 - Famed Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan comes to Japan.
1993 - The Fukuoka Dome, Japan's first stadium with an open and close roof, opens. It was built at a cost of 76 billion yen and was the home of the Daiei Hawks (now the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) professional baseball team.

Births

1942 - Hiroyuki Sakai, chef
1951 - Ayako Okamoto, golfer
1951 - Moriteru Ueshiba, martial artist
1954 - Susumu Hirasawa, singer-songwriter
1971 - Zeebra, rapper
1976 - Daisuke Namikawa, voice actor

Film and television

2007 - Delicious Gakuin begins airing on TV Tokyo, starring Takahiro Nishijima, Hiroki Aiba, Ryosuke Miura, Shinjiro Atae, and Yuichi Nakamura
2007 - Happy Boys begins airing on TV Tokyo, starring Kōji Seto, Kenta Kamakari, Keisuke Kato, Gaku Shindo, and Shugo Nagashima
2010 - Daimajin Kanon begins airing on TV Tokyo, starring Yuka Rikuna

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April 3

April 3:

Events

700 - Buddhist monk Dōshō becomes the first person in Japanese history to be cremated. (Traditional Japanese Date: Tenth Day of the Third Month, 700)
1582 - Oda Nobunaga defeats Takeda Katsunori, eliminating the Takeda hereditary line. (Traditional Japanese Date: Eleventh Day of the Third Month, 1582)
1687 - The Edo Shogunate establishes a registration system for pet dogs. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-first Day of the Second Month, 1687)
1825 - A law is passed mandating that foreign ships be driven away and not allowed to land. (Traditional Japanese Date: Fifteenth Day of the Second Month, 1825)
1895 - Japan's first tree planting ceremony is held.
1911 - The modern day Nihonbashi is opened. The famed Tokyo bridge is rebuilt as a stone arch designed to evoke the European renaissance style.
1919 - Yamamoto Sanehiko establishes the socialist Kaizō Magazine (Reform Magazine), which was published until 1955. Shiga Naoya's A Dark Night's Passing (暗夜行路, Anya Kōro) and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's Kappa (河童) were both born in the literary section of Kaizō.
1928 - Followers of the religion Tenrikyō are suppressed when the religion is found to be in violation of the law against irreverence against the emperor.
1930 - The first automatic train ticket dispensers appear in Tokyo and Ueno stations.
1947 - The first Japanese nightingales (young women chosen to be announcers because of their beautiful voices) make their appearance at the Kōrakuen Stadium.

Births

1883 - Ikki Kita (d. 1937), philosopher and author
1887 - Ōtori Tanigorō (d. 1956), sumo wrestler, the 24th Yokozuna
1887 - Nishizō Tsukahara (d. 1966), admiral
1920 - Yoshibayama Junnosuke (d. 1977), sumo wrestler, the 43rd Yokozuna
1953 - Wakanohana Kanji II, sumo wrestler, the 56th Yokozuna
1963 - Tsuyoshi Sekito, guitarist and songwriter
1966 - Miina Tominaga, voice actress and entertainer
1968 - Tomoaki Kanemoto, baseball player
1969 - Seiichi Tanabe, actor
1973 - Yo Oizumi, television personality and actor
1975 - Yoshinobu Takahashi, baseball player
1975 - Koji Uehara, baseball player
1982 - Kasumi Nakane, model and actress
1992 - Mina Ōba, singer and actress
1992 - Gaku Sano, actor
1992 - Nana Yamada, singer and actress
1996 - Mayo Hibi, tennis player

Deaths

1701 - Keichū (b. 1640), scholar and Buddhist priest

Film and television

1971 - Kamen Rider begins airing on TV Asahi, starring Hiroshi Fujioka, Takeshi Sasaki, Akiji Kobayashi, and Jirō Chiba

Holidays, observances, and anniversaries

1888 - The magazine Nihonjin is first published.

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April 4

April 4:

Events

1879 - The Ryūkyū Clan is abolished and Okinawa is born.
1890 - Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, known in Japan as Koizumi Yakumo after gaining Japanese citizenship, first arrives in Japan.
1899 - The Tokyo University of Foreign Studies is founded.
1905 - The Waseda Baseball Club travels abroad for the first time.
1978 - The female singing trio known as Candies play their final concert at the Kōrakuen Stadium.

Births

1884 - Isoroku Yamamoto (d. 1943), admiral
1946 - Katsuaki Satō, martial artist and coach
1957 - Nobuyoshi Kuwano, singer and trumpet player
1974 - Shōei, actor
1990 - Yūki Mihara, model
1991 - Yui Koike, model and actress
1994 - Shunsuke Nishikawa, actor
1994 - Risako Sugaya, singer and actress
1999 - Miki Nishino, singer, dancer, and actress

Film and television

1983 - Oshin begins airing on NHK, starring Ayako Kobayashi, Yūko Tanaka, Nobuko Otowa, Pinko Izumi, Shiro Itō, Masatoshi Nakamura, and Tsunehiko Watase

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April 5

April 5:

Events

1868 - Saigo Takamori and Katsu Kaishū meet in Edo to discuss the surrender of Edo Castle to the emperor's forces. (Traditional Japanese Date: Thirteenth Day of the Third Month, 1868)
1872 - Construction is begun on a railway between Shinagawa and Yokohama. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-eighth Day of the Second Month, 1872)
1939 - The motion picture law is passed.
1941 - The Japan Cancer Society is formed.
1947 - The first unified local elections are held.
1967 - Okayama University's Professor Kobayashi announces the cause of itai itai disease as cadmium poisoning. It is designated as the first public health illness.
1968 - Japan and the United States sign a treaty returning the Ogasawara islands to Japanese control.
1975 - The twin sister signing group The Peanuts retire from show business.
1982 - The Asakusa International Theater closes after 45 years of performances.
1998 - The Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge is completed joining the main island of Honshū with Awaji Island. The total length of the bridge is 3911 meters and the suspension towers reach a height of 300 meters -- nearly as tall as Tokyo Tower.

Births

1288 - Emperor Go-Fushimi (d. 1336)
1943 - Fighting Harada, boxer
1946 - Takuro Yoshida, singer-songwriter
1955 - Akira Toriyama, illustrator
1960 - Hiromi Taniguchi, runner
1963 - Kouichi Oohori, actor
1970 - Miho Hatori, singer-songwriter
1971 - Ayako Nishikawa, television personality, entertainer, comedian, and surgeon
1972 - Yasuhiro Takemoto, animator and director
1979 - Mitsuo Ogasawara, footballer
1984 - Kisho Yano, footballer
1988 - Asumi Nakada, voice actress and model
1990 - Haruma Miura, actor and singer
1998 - Kaito Nakamura, actor and model
1999 - Mio Yūki, actress, model, and entertainer

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April 6

April 6:

Events

1868 - The Five Charter Oath is signed by Emperor Meiji. (Traditional Japanese Date: Fourteenth Day of the Third Month, 1868)
1868 - Edo Castle is handed over to the emperor's forces in a bloodless coup, thanks to an agreement reached the previous day between Saigo Takamori and Katsu Kaishū. (Traditional Japanese Date: Fourteenth Day of the Third Month, 1868)
1882 - Itagaki Taisuke proclaims "Itagaki may perish, but liberty will survive" upon being shot (non-fatally) by a right-wing militant.
1956 - The Atomic Energy Council chooses Tōkaimura in Ibaraki Prefecture as the site of an atomic energy research facility.
1968 - Actress Mariko Miyagi opens a school for disabled children called Nemu no Ki in Shizuoka Prefecture.

Births

1973 - Rie Miyazawa, model and actress
1976 - Hirotada Ototake, author and educator
1983 - Mitsuru Nagata, footballer
1986 - Goeido Gotaro, sumo wrestler
1986 - Ryota Moriwaki, footballer
1995 - Ryutaro Morimoto, actor and singer
1998 - Rina Katsuta, singer

Film and television

1968 - Key Hunter begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Tetsurō Tamba
2010 - General Rouge no Gaisen begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Atsushi Itō and Tōru Nakamura

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April 7

April 7:

Events

1884 - Yakuza boss Shimizu Jirochō is sentenced to seven years in prison for gambling.
1890 - The Lake Biwa Canal,from Ōtsu to Kamo River, is completed.
1945 - The Japanese battleship Yamato is sunk by U.S. forces while on its way to Okinawa.
1947 - The Labor Standards Law is passed. It is implemented on September 1.
1991 - The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) holds its annual meeting in Nagoya, its first annual meeting to be held in Asia.

Births

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April 8

April 8:

Events

1900 - The first sleeper cars appear on the former Sanyō Line between Kyoto and Mitajiri
1922 - The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology establishes 2,000 regular use kanji (常用漢字, jōyō kanji)
1940 - The National Fitness Law is passed, requiring regular checkups for males between the ages of 17 and 19

Births

1934 - Kisho Kurokawa (d. 2007), architect, designed the Nakagin Capsule Tower and Singapore Flyer
1986 - Erika Sawajiri, actress and singer
1989 - Hitomi Takahashi, singer
1991 - Minami Takahashi, singer and actress
1993 - Gaku Matsumoto, actor
1993 - Kanae Yoshii, idol, singer, and actress

Deaths

1986 - Yukiko Okada (b. 1967), signer and actress

Film and television

1999 - Majo no Jōken begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Nanako Matsushima and Hideaki Takizawa

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April 9

April 9:

Events

702 - Japan's first legal system of measurement is implemented. (Traditional Japanese Date: Eighth Day of the Third Month, 702)
1890 - A ceremony is held for the opening of the first Lake Biwa Canal.
1935 - Three of Minobe Tatsukichi's publications setting forth his theory that the emperor is merely a legal figure who exercises power on behalf of the people in whom sovereignty resides (the imperial institution theory) are outlawed. Minobe eventually quits the House of Peers.
1939 - The first group recruitment train, carrying 580 students looking for work, travels from Akita to Ueno.
1952 - A Japan Airlines passenger plane crashes into Mt. Mihara on the Izu Peninsula, killing 37 people, including entertainer Ōtsuji Shirō.
1981 - An American nuclear submarine collides with a Japanese cargo ship, the Nisshōmaru.
1992 - Singer Fujiyama Ichirō becomes the ninth person to be awarded the National Honor Award (国民栄誉賞, Kokumin Eiyō-shō).

Births

1972 - Bernard Ackah, German-Japanese martial artist and kick-boxer
1978 - Kousei Amano, actor
1985 - Tomohisa Yamashita, actor and singer

Film and television

2002 - Artificial Beauty begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Ryoko Yonekura

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April 10

April 10:

Events

823 - Nemoto Hall on Mount Hiei is renamed Enryaku-ji. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-sixth Day of the Second Month, 823)
1657 - Tokugawa Mitsukuni establishes editorial institutions in Edo and Mito^{[disambiguation needed]} that begin compiling a comprehensive history of Japan that came to be known as the History of Great Japan (Dainihonshi). It wasn't completed until 1906. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-seventh Day of the Second Month, 1657)
1928 - The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nihon Shōkō Kaigisho) is formed.
1946 - Japan's first post-war elections are held, and 39 women are elected.
1954 - Kinugasa Teinosuke's Gate of Hell wins the Cannes Film Festival Palme d'or grand prize.
1959 - Crown Prince Akihito (the current emperor) marries Shōda Michiko.
1988 - The world's longest dual-use bridge (automobile and train), the Seto Ōhashi, is completed joining Japan's main island of Honshū with the island of Shikoku.

Births

1933 - Rokusuke Ei, composer and author
1950 - Akiko Wada, singer and actress
1971 - Nana Smith, American-Japanese tennis player
1976 - Yoshino Kimura, actress and singer
1979 - Tsuyoshi Domoto, singer-songwriter and actor

Film and television

2005 - Aikurushii begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Hayato Ichihara
2008 - Last Friends begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Masami Nagasawa, Juri Ueno, Eita, Asami Mizukawa, and Ryo Nishikido

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April 11

April 11:

Events

800 - Mount Fuji erupts. (Traditional Japanese Date: Fourteenth Day of the Third Month, 800)
1951 - General Douglas MacArthur completes his duties and is dismissed as the Supreme Allied Commander.

Births

1908 - Masaru Ibuka (d. 1997), businessman, co-founded Sony
1931 - Koichi Sugiyama, composer and conductor
1969 - Chisato Moritaka, singer-songwriter and actress
1980 - Keiji Tamada, footballer
1991 - Erina Mano, singer and actress
1993 - Yuji Takahashi, footballer

Film and television

1993 - Oka no Ue no Himawari begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Kaoru Kobayashi, Yoko Shimada, Michitaka Tsutsui, Riona Hazuki, and Atsuko Takahata
2004 - Orange Days begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Satoshi Tsumabuki, Kou Shibasaki, Hiroki Narimiya, Miho Shiraishi, and Eita
2013 - Last Cinderella begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Ryoko Shinohara, Haruma Miura, and Naohito Fujiki
2015 - Do S Deka begins airing on Nippon TV, starring Mikako Tabe and Tadayoshi Okura

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April 12

April 12:

Events

1638 - The Shimabara Rebellion is put down. Christian farmers holed up in Shimabara Castle fall to an attack by Shogunate forces. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-eighth Day of the Second Month, 1638)
1784 - The golden seal bestowed upon the king of Nakoku by the Chinese emperor Guāng Wǔ Dì is discovered on Shika Island in the Hakata Bay near modern day Fukuoka. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-third Day of the Second Month, 1784)
1872 - Japan holds its first world expo at Yushima Hall. (Traditional Japanese Date: Fifth Day of the Third Month, 1872)
1877 - Tokyo University is founded.
1948 - The Japan Business Federation, or the Nikkeiren, is founded. The word "salaryman" was started by the Nikkeiren's long time Senior Director Maeda Hajime.
1968 - Japan's first modern high-rise, the 36 story 147 meter Kasumigaseki Building, is completed in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo.

Births

1868 - Akiyama Saneyuki (d. 1918), admiral
1913 - Keiko Fukuda (d. 2013), Japanese-American martial artist
1962 - Nobuhiko Takada, mixed martial artist and wrestler, founded Hustle
1985 - Hitomi Yoshizawa, singer
1994 - Airi Suzuki, actress and singer

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April 13

April 13:

Events

1856 - The shogunate abolishes the practice of requiring suspected Christians to step on fumie at the newly opened ports. (Traditional Japanese Date: Ninth Day of the Third Month, 1856)
1888 - Japan's first coffee shop, the Kahi (coffee) Sakan, opens in Ueno.
1903 - The system of nationally approved primary school textbooks is implemented.
1922 - The Boy Scouts of Japan is formed.
1930 - The Japan Gymnastics Association is formed.
1941 - A Neutrality pact between Japan and the Soviet Union is signed in Moscow.
1986 - Hiroaki Nagae and family return to Japan four years and nine months after setting of an around-the-world yachting expedition.

Births

1955 - Hideki Saijo, singer
1984 - Hiro Mizushima, actor

Film and television

1994 - Furuhata Ninzaburō begins airing in Fuji Television, starring Masakazu Tamura and Masahiko Nishimura
2013 - The Great Passage, a film starring Ryuhei Matsuda

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April 14

April 14:

Events

1603 - Nihonbashi is completed and quickly becomes the center of Japanese commerce. (Traditional Japanese Date: Third Day of the Third Month, 1603)
1670 - The Hakone reservoir is completed. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-fifth Day of the Second Month, 1670)
1879 - A Japanese pilots a steam train for the first time.
1947 - Japan's antimonopoly law is passed.
1989 - Nintendo announces its first Game Boy.

Births

1741 - Emperor Momozono (d. 1762)
1954 - Katsuhiro Otomo, director, screenwriter, and illustrator
1970 - Shizuka Kudō, singer and actress
1980 - Ayumi Ito, actress
1986 - Anne Watanabe, model, actress, and singer

Films and television

2000 - Ikebukuro West Gate Park begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Tomoya Nagase and Ken Watanabe
2007 - Liar Game begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Erika Toda and Shota Matsuda
2009 - Atashinchi no Danshi begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Maki Horikita

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April 15

April 15:

Events

1870 - Japan's first shoe factory opens (Traditional Japanese Date: Fifteenth Day of the Third Month, 1870)
1929 - Japan's first train terminal shopping center, the Hankyu Department Store, opens at Umeda Station in Osaka.
1935 - Japan's begins radio broadcasts for schools.
1937 - Helen Keller visits Japan.
1967 - Ryokichi Minobe is elected as Tokyo's first reform governor.
1983 - Tokyo Disneyland opens.

Births

1933 - Kōji Yada (d. 2014), voice actor
1988 - Manami Numakura, voice actress
1991 - Daiki Arioka, actor and singer

Film and television

1996 - Long Vacation begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Takuya Kimura and Tomoko Yamaguchi
2011 - Inu o Kau to Iu Koto begins airing on TV Asahi, starring Ryo Nishikido, Asami Mizukawa, Kokoro Kuge, and Ryutaro Yamasaki
2012 - Ataru begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Masahiro Nakai
2012 - Kazoku no Uta begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Joe Odagiri
2014 - Bitter Blood begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Takeru Satoh and Atsuro Watabe

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April 16

April 16:

Events

1205 - The New Collection of Ancient and Modern Waka is completed. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-sixth Day of the Third Month, 1205)
1906 - Japan initiates express train service with an express train from Shimbashi to Kobe. The trip took thirteen hours and 40 minutes.
1949 - Japan's first off-track betting facility opens in Kōrakuen, Tokyo.
1955 - The Mount Bota mine in Sasebo, Nagasaki collapses, killing 68.
1978 - Japan holds its first women's marathon at Lake Tama Field. Forty-nine women participated and 100,000 spectators turned out to watch.
1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev makes his first visit to Japan as the leader of the Soviet Union.

Births

1874 - Jōtarō Watanabe (d. 1936), general in the Imperial Japanese Army and victim of the February 26 Incident
1948 - Kazuyuki Sogabe (d. 2006), voice actor and guitarist
1971 - Seigo Yamamoto, race car driver
1973 - Hirofumi Nojima, voice actor
1973 - Bonnie Pink, singer-songwriter
1986 - Shinji Okazaki, footballer
1988 - Alisa Durbrow, model, actress, and singer
1991 - Yurie Midori, actress and model

Deaths

1972 - Yasunari Kawabata (b. 1899), Nobel Prize winning short story writer and novelist

Film and television

1997 - Gift begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Takuya Kimura and Shigeru Muroi
2007 - Operation Love begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Tomohisa Yamashita and Masami Nagasawa
2015 - I'm Home begins airing on TV Asahi, starring Takuya Kimura and Aya Ueto

Holidays, observances, and anniversaries

1882 - Ōkuma Shigenobu forms the Progressive Party

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April 17

April 17:

Events

667 - Prince Naka no Ōe moves the capital from Asuka to the Ōtsu Palace. (Traditional Japanese Date: Nineteenth Day of the Third Month, 667)
1870 - A licensing system for rickshaw's is implemented. (Traditional Japanese Date: Seventeenth Day of the Third Month, 1870)
1895 - The Treaty of Shimonoseki is signed, whereby China recognized Korea's independence and renounced all claims to it, ceded some territory, including Taiwan, to Japan, and agreed to pay reparations
1898 - Western-style artist Yuzo Saeki is born. Saeki travelled to France in 1923 and was heavily influenced by Maurice Utrillo. He is best known for his paintings of Paris. He died at the age of 31.
1947 - A public employment assistance office is opened.
1947 - The regional and local administrative law is passed, establishing the organization and operation of regional administrative regions and their relationship with the national government.
1968 - Tokyo governor Minobe officially recognizes the Korea University in Kodaira, Tokyo.

Births

1877 - Matsudaira Tsuneo (d. 1949), diplomat
1947 - Tsutomu Wakamatsu, baseball player, coach, and manager
1972 - Yuichi Nishimura, footballer and referee
1973 - Kaihō Ryōji, sumo wrestler
1988 - Takahiro Moriuchi, singer-songwriter of the band, ONE OK ROCK

Film and television

2009 - Meitantei no Okite begins airing on TV Asahi, starring Shota Matsuda, Yūichi Kimura, Yuu Kashii, Chisun, and Jingi Irie
2015 - Koisuru Vampire, a vampire film starring Mirei Kiritani

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April 18

April 18:

Events

1872 - The first Christian church built by Japanese opens in Yokohama. (Traditional Japanese Date: Eleventh Day of the Third Month, 1872)
1934 - The Teijin bribery scandal occurs, which eventually leads to the resignation of Prime Minister Saitō Makoto and his entire cabinet.
1942 - The U.S. begins bombing raids over Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe and other cities in Japan.
1943 - Japanese Fleet Admiral and Commander-in-Chief Yamamoto Isoroku is shot down and killed over the Solomon Islands.

Births

1918 - Shinobu Hashimoto, director, producer, and screenwriter
1969 - Sayako Kuroda, daughter of Akihito
1976 - Fayray, singer-songwriter and actress
1981 - Mai Hoshimura, singer-songwriter and pianist
1985 - Sasa Handa, model and actress
1992 - Misa Eguchi, tennis player

Film and television

2005 - Engine begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Takuya Kimura, Koyuki, Yoshio Harada, and Yuki Matsushita
2010 - Shinzanmono begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Hiroshi Abe, Meisa Kuroki, and Osamu Mukai
2014 - Shinigami-kun begins airing on TV Asahi, starring Satoshi Ohno and Mirei Kiritani

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April 19

April 19:

Events

1160 - Minamoto Yoritomo is banished to Izu. (Traditional Japanese Date: Eleventh Day of the Third Month, 1160)
1951 - Tanaka Shigeki becomes the first Japanese to run and win the Boston Marathon.
1961 - Edwin O. Reischauer is appointed as the U.S. ambassador to Japan.
1988 - NTT's ISDN service is initiated, linking Tokyo and Nagoya.

Births

1897 - Jiroemon Kimura (d. 2013), super-centenarian
1966 - El Samurai, wrestler
1981 - Ryuta Hara, footballer
1988 - Haruna Kojima, singer and actress
1988 - Saya Yūki, actress
1989 - Daisuke Watabe, footballer

Film and television

2004 - Itoshi Kimi e begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Miho Kanno and Naohito Fujiki
2011 - Muscle Girl! begins airing on Mainichi Broadcasting System and Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Yui Ichikawa and Lee Hong-gi

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April 20

April 20:

Events

1284 - Hōjō Tokimune dies. (Traditional Japanese Date: Fourth Day of the Fourth Month, 1284)
1868 - The capital is moved from Kyoto to Edo, which is renamed Tokyo. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-eighth Day of the Third Month, 1868)
1871 - Postal service begins in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. (Traditional Japanese Date: First Day of the Third Month, 1871)
1901 - Japan's Women's University opens.
1914 - Serial publication of Natsume Sōseki's novel Kokoro begins.
1925 - Airmail service begins between Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka.
1927 - The Tanaka Giichi Cabinet is formed.
1947 - Japan's first House of Councillors election is held.
1954 - The Haiyūza Theater opens in Roppongi.
1954 - The first annual Tokyo Motor Show is held.
1959 - Groundbreaking ceremony is held for construction of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen
1966 - Automatic train stop equipment installation on all national railways is completed.

Births

1633 - Emperor Go-Kōmyō (d. 1654)
1978 - Mirei Kuroda, model and actress
1982 - Sayaka Kamiya, actress and model

Film and television

2008 - Ryokiteki na Kanojo begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Rena Tanaka

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April 21

April 21:

Events

1591 - Sen no Rikyū commits ritual suicide under orders by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-eighth Day of the Second Month of the Nineteenth Year of Tenshō)
1612 - Tokugawa Ieyasu issues a proclamation banning Christianity in the territories under his direct control. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-first Day of the Fifth Month of the Seventeenth Year of Keichō)
1701 - Leader of the Ako clan, Asano Naganori attempts to kill Kira Yoshinaka in the Hall of Pines at Edo Castle, triggering a series of events known as the tale of the Forty-seven Rōnin. Asano committed ritual suicide the next day under orders by the Shōgun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. (Traditional Japanese Date: Fourteenth Day of the Third Month of the Fourteenth Year of Genroku)
1927 - Fifteen banks close due to the Shōwa financial crisis.
1934 - The statue of the faithful dog Hachikō is completed in front of Shibuya Station.
1951 - Temporary permits are issued to 16 commercial broadcasters.
1978 - The Japan-USSR Fisheries Agreement is signed.

Births

1958 - Yoshito Usui (d. 2009), illustrator
1974 - Katsuyuki Konishi, voice actor
1980 - Hiro Shimono, voice actor
1981 - Nao Oikawa, actress and television personality

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April 22

April 22:

Events

1870 - The Tokyo government issues a permit to rickshaw inventors Izumi Yosuke, Suzuki Tokujiro and Takayama Kosuke to build and sell them. (Japanese Date: Twenty-second Day of the Third Month, 1870)
1901 - Japanese braille is first published.
1925 - Peace Preservation Law of 1925 is publicly announced.
1946 - Japanese comic-strip Sazae-san is first published in the newspaper Fukunichi Shimbun.
1947 - The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department begin testing the polygraph.
1950 - Fujiko Yamamoto wins the first The Miss Japan Grand Prix Pageant.
1981 - Mother Teresa visits Japan for the first time.

Births

1912 - Kaneto Shindo (d. 2012), director, producer, and screenwriter
1938 - Issey Miyake, fashion designer
1954 - Jōji Nakata, voice actor
1971 - Daisuke Enomoto, businessman
1982 - Noriko Shitaya, voice actress

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April 23

April 23:

Events

1869 - Emperor Meiji visit Ise Shrine for the first time as an Emperor. (Japanese Date: Twelfth Day of the Third Month, 1869)
1895 - Triple Intervention
1895 - Russia, Germany and France ask Japan to give back Liaodong Peninsula to China.
1949 - The value of the yen was fixed at ¥360 per US$1 by Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers.
1955 - Sōka Gakkai gains in the third local government elections.
1966 - Nissan start selling the new brand Nissan Sunny.
1974 - Completion of Akasaka Palace refitting.

Births

1899 - Minoru Shirota (d. 1982), physician and microbiologist, invented Yakult
1957 - Kenji Kawai, composer and conductor
1970 - Sadao Abe, actor and singer

Deaths

1966 - George Ohsawa (b. 1893), founder of the Macrobiotic diet

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April 24

April 24:

Events

1932 - The First Annual Meeting of the Japanese Derby is held and the horse Wakataka won.
1940 - The ticket system is adopted in daily necessities.
1951 - 106 die in the Sakuragichō train fire in Yokohama.
1965 - Makoto Oda's Citizen's League for Peace in Vietnam hold their first demonstration.
1977 - Nichigeki Dancing Team carry out their last public performance.

Births

1968 - Yuji Nagata, wrestler and mixed martial artist
1981 - Yuko Nakanishi, swimmer
1981 - Azusa Yamamoto, idol and actress
1985 - Kaori Nazuka, actress and singer
1990 - Kazuki Shimizu, actor

Film and television

2011 - Marumo no Okite begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Sadao Abe, Fuku Suzuki, and Mana Ashida

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April 25

April 25:

Events

1185 - 壇ノ浦の合戦で、平家が滅亡。 (Japanese Date: Twenty-fourth Day of the Third Month, 1185)
1644 - 大明帝国滅亡 (Japanese Date: Nineteenth Day of the Third Month, 1644)
1683 - 八百屋お七が火あぶりの刑となる。歌舞伎などの演目でも知られる八百屋の娘「お七」が放火の罪で鈴ケ森で火あぶりの極刑に処せられる。お七はその時18歳、お七が丙午生まれだったことから、丙午生まれの女子が疎まれるようになった (Japanese Date: Twenty-ninth Day of the Third Month, 1683)
1868 - 福沢諭吉が慶応義塾を開校。私塾を芝に移し、年号にちなみ慶應義塾と改称する。 (Japanese Date: Third Day of the Fourth Month, 1868)
1888 - 市町村制が公布される。
1926 - ドイツ製入場券自動販売機が登場
1934 - 吉本興業、東京・新橋演舞場で「特選漫才大会」を開く。
1980 - モスクワオリンピック不参加を政府が発表。
1980 - 大貫久男さん、東京・銀座で１億円入りの包みを拾う。東京・銀座の道路わきで、トラック運転手がふろしき包みを拾う。中は、１万円札で、１億円。警察に届け、一時は、「犯罪に関する金か！？」と騒がれるが、６ケ月と14日の届け出期間を過ぎても落とし主が現れず11月9日に時効成立。1億円は大貫さんへ。
1992 - ロック歌手、尾崎豊急死。泥酔した状態で東京都内の民家で保護されたが、肺水腫で死亡した。「十七歳の地図」で熱狂的な支持を得、若者のカリスマ的存在でもあった。

Births

1942 - Mr. Hito (d. 2010), wrestler
1980 - Juri Miyazawa, actress and model
1980 - Kazuhito Tadano, baseball player

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April 26

April 26:

Events

1880 - The Seismological Society of Japan is founded
1887 - Emperor Meiji is the first emperor to watch a kabuki play
1924 - The first title matches in professional boxing in Japan was held in the concert hall of Hibiya Park, Tokyo
1994 - China Airlines Flight 140 makes a failed landing and crashes at Nagoya Airport, killing 264 people

Births

1910 - Tomoyuki Tanaka (d. 1997), screenwriter and producer
1977 - Kosuke Fukudome, baseball player
1989 - Ayame Misaki, actress
1993 - Ryoma Takeuchi, actor and model

Deaths

1192 - Emperor Go-Shirakawa (b. 1127)

Film and television

2014 - Aibou: The Movie III, a mystery suspense crime film starring Yutaka Mizutani, Hiroki Narimiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Yumiko Shaku, and Toru Kazama
2015 - The Emperor's Cook begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Takeru Satoh

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April 27

April 27:

Births

1966 - Yoshihiro Togashi, illustrator

Deaths

1927 - Asada Nobuoki (b. 1851), general in the Imperial Japanese Army

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April 28

April 28:

Events

1661 - 伊達堀(神田川)完成 (Japanese Date: Twenty-ninth Day of the Third Month, 1661)
1883 - 日本銀行開業。日本で唯一の銀行券を発行できる銀行＝日本銀行がこの日開業。
1908 - ブラジル移民が出発。日本人最初のブラジル移民７８０人が、神戸港からブラジルに向け出発した。1960年代の高度成長期に衰退するが、戦前・戦後を通じ、約２５万人が移住した。
1937 - 初の文化勲章の授与式が行われる（横山大観、幸田露伴ら）。
1948 - 夏時刻法が公布される（サマータイム・実施は５月２日から）。５月第1土曜日から、９月第２土曜日まで時計の針を1時間進める「夏時刻法」が公布されたが、睡眠不足になったなどクレームが相次ぎ1952年に廃止。
1952 - The San Francisco Peace Treaty between Japan and part of the Allied Powers comes into force.
1964 - Japan formally joins the OECD.
1964 - The male-oriented magazine Heibon Punch publishes its first issue.

Births

1912 - Kaneto Shindō (d. 2012), director, producer, and screenwriter
1961 - Futoshi Matsunaga, serial killer
1964 - Noriyuki Iwadare, composer
1968 - Akiko Ikuina, entertainer
1980 - Noriko Eguchi, actress

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April 29

April 29:

Events

1600 - A Dutch ship carrying William Adams, the "Pilot of Miura" shipwrecks in Usuki Bay, Bungo Province (Traditional Japanese Date: Sixteenth Day of the Third Month, 1600)
1891 - Chūhachi Ninomiya succeeds in getting a model plane driven by a rubber band to fly.
1901 - Emperor Showa is born as prince Michi-no-miya Hirohito. He was the first son of Emperor Taishō who was crown prince at the time.
1912 - 276 die in a gas explosion in the Yūbari coal mine, Hokkaido.
1927 - 嵐勘寿郎主演の｢鞍馬天狗シリーズ｣の第1作となる「角兵衛獅子」が封切られる。
1949 - 日本五輪復帰をIOC承認
1977 - Yasuhiro Yamashita, aged 19, becomes the youngest ever to win the open category of the All-Japan Judo Championships.
1986 - 昭和天皇在位60年式典が行われる。法隆寺が全焼する。

Births

1901 - Hirohito (d. 1989), emperor
1961 - Fumihiko Tachiki, voice actor
1983 - Yuriko Shiratori, model and actress
1991 - Mariya Suzuki, singer and actress

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April 30

April 30:

Events

1898 - A Trappist convent is established in Yunokawa, Hakodate. It is Japan's first women's convent.
1918 - Tokyo Woman's Christian University is established.
1960 - The world's first all-transistor television is released by Sony.
1960 - Rebuilding of the Kaminarimon gate of Sensō-ji in Tokyo is completed. The gate had burnt down at the end of the Edo period.
1978 - Naomi Uemura, going by dog sled, is the first person to reach the North Pole alone.

Births

1972 - Takako Tokiwa, actress
1980 - Atsushi, singer-songwriter and producer

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