2006 in Japan explained

Events in the year 2006 in Japan.

Incumbents

• Emperor: Akihito^[1]
• Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi (L–Kanagawa) to September 26 Shinzō Abe (L–Yamaguchi)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Shinzō Abe (L–Yamaguchi) to September 26 Yasuhisa Shiozaki (L–Ehime)
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Akira Machida to October 15 Nirō Shimada from October 16
• President of the House of Representatives: Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa)
• President of the House of Councillors: Chikage Ōgi (L–proportional)
• Diet sessions: 164th (regular, January 20 to June 18), 165th (extraordinary, September 26 to December 19)

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture

• • Akita Prefecture: Sukeshiro Terata Aomori Prefecture: Shingo Mimura
    • • • Chiba Prefecture: Akiko Dōmoto Ehime Prefecture: Moriyuki Kato Fukui Prefecture: Issei Nishikawa Fukuoka Prefecture: Wataru Asō Fukushima Prefecture:
  • until 28 September: Eisaku Satō
  • 28 September-12 November: Akira Kawate
    • starting 12 November: Yūhei Satō Gifu Prefecture: Hajime Furuta
  • Gunma Prefecture: Hiroyuki Kodera Hiroshima Prefecture

• Hokkaido

Harumi Takahashi

• Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido
• Ibaraki Prefecture

• Ishikawa Prefecture

Masanori Tanimoto

• • • • Iwate Prefecture: Hiroya Masuda Kagawa Prefecture: Takeki Manabe Kagoshima Prefecture: Satoshi Mitazono Kanagawa Prefecture

• • Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto Kumamoto Prefecture

• Kyoto Prefecture

• • Mie Prefecture: Akihiko Noro Miyagi Prefecture

Yoshihiro Murai

• Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadahiro Ando (until 5 December); Kayoko Saka (starting 5 December)
• Nagano Prefecture

Yasuo Tanaka (until 1 September); Jin Murai (starting 1 September)

• • Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto
• Niigata Prefecture

• Oita Prefecture: Katsusada Hirose
• Okayama Prefecture

• Okinawa Prefecture

Keiichi Inamine (until 10 December); Hirokazu Nakaima (starting 10 December)

• Osaka Prefecture

• Saga Prefecture

• Saitama Prefecture

• Shiga Prefecture

Yoshitsugu Kunimatsu (until 20 July); Yukiko Kada (starting 20 July)

• • • Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita Shizuoka Prefecture: Yoshinobu Ishikawa Tochigi Prefecture: Tomikazu Fukuda
• Tokushima Prefecture: Kamon Iizumi
• Tokyo

• • • Tottori Prefecture: Yoshihiro Katayama Toyama Prefecture: Takakazu Ishii Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshiki Kimura (until 2 December); Yoshinobu Nisaka (starting 17 December)
    • Yamagata Prefecture: Hiroshi Saitō Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii Yamanashi Prefecture: Takahiko Yamamoto

Events

January

• January 1 - The Stories of Ibis, a Japanese science-fiction light novel is published.^[2]
• January 16 - Tokyo prosecutors raid Livedoor for suspected violations of securities laws.
• January 18 - Following the Livedoor raid, the Tokyo Stock Exchange is overloaded with sell orders and is forced to stop trading.
• January 23 - Livedoor CEO Takafumi Horie and three other company officials are arrested and placed in detention.

February

• February 1 - Transit operators in the Kansai region introduce the PiTaPa contactless fare card system.
• February 6 - Construction Ministry officials cite Toyoko Inn for multiple violations of building codes and disability access laws.
• February 23 - Figure skater Shizuka Arakawa wins a gold medal in the Ladies' Singles at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

March

• March 3–5 - Asian round of the World Baseball Classic is held at the Tokyo Dome.
• March 4 - Softbank announces its intention to purchase the Japanese subsidiary of Vodafone.

April

• April 7 - Ichirō Ozawa is elected president of the Democratic Party of Japan.
• April 26 - Takahumi Horie is released from custody.
• April 26 - Hidetsugu Aneha is arrested for his role in the Structural Calculation Forgery Problem.

May

• May 1 - The new Corporations Act goes into effect, abolishing yugen kaisha and altering kabushiki kaisha.
• May 23 – Japanese foreign minister Taro Aso visits Qatar to meet with Chinese and South Korean diplomats.^{[3] [4]}

June

• June - Minato Ward 2006 elevator accident, a 16-year-old student killed in Minato, Tokyo

• June 5 - Yoshiaki Murakami, manager of the Murakami Fund, is arrested for insider trading.
• June 15 - A cross-party organization of 135 Diet members led by Taku Yamasaki proposes a secular replacement for Yasukuni Shrine.

July

• July 14 - Bank of Japan abolishes the zero interest rate policy.
• July 20 - A memorandum from an Imperial Household Agency official is published in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun showing that Emperor Hirohito refused to visit Yasukuni Shrine after Class A war criminals were added to its rolls.

August

• August 9 - Beef imported from the United States goes on sale in Japan for the first time in months following a lengthy ban.
• August 14 - A blackout occurs throughout Tokyo, Chiba and Saitama during the morning rush hour after a barge-mounted crane disrupts a high-voltage line.

• August 15 - On the anniversary of the end of World War II, Koizumi makes his final visit to Yasukuni Shrine.
• August 16 - A fishing boat is fired upon after crossing into Russian-claimed waters off the east coast of Hokkaidō.

September

• September 22 - Junichiro Koizumi's term as president of the Liberal Democratic Party expires.

November

• November 7  - According to Fire and Disaster Management Agency official report, F3 class tornado hit in Saroma, eastern Hokkaido, nine persons were human fatalities and 23 persons were hurt.

December

• December 2 - Nintendo's Wii is released in Japan.^[5]

Births

• September 6: Prince Hisahito of Akishino^[6]

Deaths

• January 3: Shiro Azuma, soldier
• April 29: Yoichi Numata, actor
• May 1: Kikuo Takano, poet and mathematician
• May 6: Shigeru Kayano, Ainu activist (b. 1926)
• May 10: Raizo Matsuno, politician
• May 16: Takahiro Tamura, actor
• May 29: Masumi Okada, actor
• June 1: Shokichi Iyanaga, mathematician
• June 13: Hiroyuki Iwaki, conductor and percussionist
• June 17: Hiroaki Shukuzawa, rugby coach
• July 1: Ryutaro Hashimoto, prime minister (born 1937)^[7]
• July 7: Reizō Nomoto, voice actor
• August 6: Hirotaka Suzuoki, voice actor and actor
• August 9: Chinatsu Mori, shot putter
• September 13: Shokichi Natsui, judoka
• September 17: Kazuyuki Sogabe, voice actor
• September 25: Tetsurō Tamba, actor
• October 1: Yoshihiro Yonezawa, manga critic and author
• October 29: Reiko Mutō, voice actress
• November 10: Taira Hara, manga artist and tarento
• December 17: Kyōko Kishida, actress
• December 20: Yukio Aoshima, politician
• December 25: Hiroaki Hidaka

See also

• 2006 in Japanese television
• List of Japanese films of 2006

Statistics

• Wealthiest person in Japan: Masayoshi Son (net worth US$7 billion)

Notes and References

1. Web site: McCurry . Justin . Akihito to become first Japanese emperor to abdicate in 200 years . the Guardian . 10 June 2018 . en . 1 December 2017.
2. Web site: The Stories of Ibis . goodreads.com . Goodreads, Inc. . 17 June 2023.
3. English News at 6:00 (JST), May 23. English News. NHK World Radio Japan. May 23, 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060522225253/http://www3.nhk.or.jp/rj/podcast/mp3/english.mp3. 2006-05-22 . 2021-06-08.
4. Mr. Taro Aso, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Attend the Fifth Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Ministerial Meeting. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. May 19, 2006. 2021-06-09.
5. Book: Haghirian . Parissa . Gagnon . Philippe . Case Studies in Japanese Management . 2011 . World Scientific Publishing Company . 9789813108158 . 156 . en.
6. Book: Shillony . Ben-Ami . The Emperors of Modern Japan . 2008 . BRILL . 978-9004168220 . 313 . en.
7. Web site: Ryutaro Hashimoto . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ryutaro-hashimoto-6096241.html . 2022-05-01 . subscription . live . The Independent . 19 February 2021 . en . 1 April 2009.