2004 in Japan explained
Events in the year 2004 in Japan.
2004 was the population "peak" of Japan - the last year in which the national population increased.[1]
Incumbents
Governors
Harumi Takahashi
Masanori Tanimoto
Ikuo Hirayama (until 24 October); Hirohiko Izumida (starting 25 October)
Keiichi Inamine
Events
January
February
- February 8: The Ground Self-Defense Force's main unit of the SDF dispatched to Iraq enters Samawah, Iraq.
- February 12: The Tokyo District Court has ruled two years in prison and five years in prison for former member of the House of Representatives Kiyomi Tsujimoto who was accused of fraudulent misappropriation of secretary salary. Neither the prosecution nor the defendant appealed, and the ruling was finalized on March 26.
- February 17: Avian influenza virus infection in pet chicken (chabo) was confirmed in Kokonoe-cho, Oita Prefecture (the second case this year following Yamaguchi).
- February 27: Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara is given the death penalty.
March
April
- April 1
- 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
August
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.[6]
- September 17: Japanese baseball players announce a weekend strike, the first baseball strike in Japanese history.
- September 27: Koizumi reshuffles his cabinet.
- September 29 - 30: Typhoon Meari, according to Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, 27 persons were human fatalities and 95 persons wounded.
October
November
December
Births
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, comedian and film actor
- April 15: Mitsuteru Yokoyama, manga artist (b. 1934)
- 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 US$6.9 billion)
- Yen: High ¥101.83/USD; low ¥114.80/USD
See also
References
- News: Banyan. Japan's demography The incredible shrinking country. The Economist. 31 August 2014.
- Web site: Akihito Biography, Reign, & Facts . Encyclopedia Britannica . 27 March 2019 . en.
- Web site: The case of the killer nurse. Japan Today. 2004-04-06. 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]
- Web site: http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/entertainment/2015739/full/ . ja:人気子役・本田望結、将来は五輪目指す「金メダル獲りたい」 . 2012-09-03 . Oricon, Inc . Japanese . 2012-08-17.