2007 in Japan explained

Events in the year 2007 in Japan.

Incumbents

• Emperor – Akihito^[1]
• Prime Minister – Shinzō Abe (Liberal Democratic Party–Yamaguchi) until September 26, Yasuo Fukuda (Liberal Democratic Party–Gunma)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yasuhisa Shiozaki (L–Ehime) to August 27, Kaoru Yosano (L–Tokyo) to September 26, Nobutaka Machimura (L–Hokkaidō)
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Nirō Shimada
• President of the House of Representatives: Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa)
• President of the House of Councillors: Chikage Ōgi (L–proportional) until July 28, Satsuki Eda (D–Okayama)
• Diet sessions: 166th (regular, January 25 to July 5), 167th (extraordinary, August 7 to August 10), 168th (extraordinary, September 10 to 2008, January 15)

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: Yūhei Satō Gifu Prefecture: Hajime Furuta
• Gunma Prefecture: Hiroyuki Kodera (until 27 July); Masaaki Osawa (starting 28 July)
• Hiroshima Prefecture

• Hokkaido

Harumi Takahashi

• Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido
• Ibaraki Prefecture

• Ishikawa Prefecture

Masanori Tanimoto

• Iwate Prefecture: Hiroya Masuda (until 29 April); Takuya Tasso (starting 30 April)
  • • Kagawa Prefecture: Takeki Manabe Kagoshima Prefecture: Satoshi Mitazono Kanagawa Prefecture

• Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto (until 6 December); Masanao Ozaki (starting 7 December)
• Kumamoto Prefecture

• Kyoto Prefecture

• • Mie Prefecture: Akihiko Noro Miyagi Prefecture

Yoshihiro Murai

• Miyazaki Prefecture: Kayoko Saka (until 22 January); Hideo Higashikokubaru (starting 23 January)
• Nagano Prefecture

• • Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto (until 2 May); Shōgo Arai (starting 2 May)
• Niigata Prefecture

• Oita Prefecture: Katsusada Hirose
• Okayama Prefecture

• Okinawa Prefecture

Hirokazu Nakaima

• Osaka Prefecture

• Saga Prefecture

• Saitama Prefecture

• Shiga Prefecture

• Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita (until 29 April); Zenbe Mizoguchi (starting 30 April)
  • Shizuoka Prefecture: Yoshinobu Ishikawa Tochigi Prefecture: Tomikazu Fukuda
• Tokushima Prefecture: Kamon Iizumi
• Tokyo

• Tottori Prefecture: Yoshihiro Katayama (until 13 April); Shinji Hirai (starting 13 April)
  • Toyama Prefecture: Takakazu Ishii Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshinobu Nisaka
    • Yamagata Prefecture: Hiroshi Saitō Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii Yamanashi Prefecture: Takahiko Yamamoto (until 16 February); Shōmei Yokouchi (starting 17 February)

Events

January

• January 23 – A rare eel-like creature identified as a frilled shark is discovered in Japan by fishermen.^[2]

February

• February 20 – A power outage strikes the central area of Nagoya.
• February 26 – A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes off the southern coast of Japan's Ryukyu Island.^[3]

March

• March 25 – A tsunami occurs on the northern coast of Japan after an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 in the Sea of Japan. NHK reports that 1 person has died and 40 have been injured.^[4]
• March 26 – Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe apologizes for Japan's use of women as sex slaves in frontline brothels during World War II.^[5]

April

• April 1 – Niigata and Hamamatsu become cities designated by government ordinance.
• April 8 – Voters go to the polls in Japan for the first phase of the unified local elections including 13 gubernatorial elections, 44 prefectural assembly elections and 4 mayoral races in major cities.^[6]
• April 10 – The government of Japan extends economic sanctions against the North Korean government by an additional six months, citing a lack of progress in resolving kidnapping cases of Japanese citizens.^[7]
• April 16 – The United States, Japan and India carry out a joint naval exercise in the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to increase strategic cooperation.
• April 17 – Iccho Ito, the mayor of Nagasaki, Japan, is shot at least twice outside his re-election campaign headquarters. The assassin, Tetsuya Shiroo, is alleged to be a senior member of a local gang affiliated to the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate.^[8] Itoh was taken to the Nagasaki University Hospital, where he died early the next morning due to loss of blood.
• April 22 – In the second phase of the unified local elections, hundreds of municipal elections and two by-elections for the national Diet are held.
• April 25 – Japanese police raid the offices of a pro-North Korean group in relation to the alleged kidnapping of two children in the 1970s.^[9]

May

• May 14 – The House of Councillors passes rules for revising the pacifist Constitution of Japan.^[10]
• May 28
  • Riyo Mori becomes Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico City, the second Japanese to do so after Akiko Kojima.^[11]
  • Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Toshikatsu Matsuoka is found dead at his Tokyo home, hours before he was to face questions in the Diet about his expenses.^[12]

June

• June 1 – Archaeologists discover a 2,100-year-old melon in Shiga Prefecture.^[13]
• June 21 – Japan changes the name of Iwo Jima to its original name, Iwo To, to reflect the wishes of its original inhabitants.^[14]

July

• July 3 – Japan's Minister of Defense Fumio Kyuma resigns over comments he made about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the weekend.^[15]
• July 4 – Japan's first female Minister of Defense, Yuriko Koike, is sworn in a day after the resignation of her predecessor, Fumio Kyuma.^[16]
• July 16 – 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake, eleven deaths and at least 1000 injuries were reported, and 342 buildings destroyed.
• July 29 – House of Councillors election

August

• August 1 – Norihiko Akagi resigns as Japan's agriculture minister after scandals involving him adversely affected the Liberal Democratic Party's performance in the 2007 Japanese House of Councillors election.^[17]
• August 24 – Murder of Rie Isogai
• August 25 – The 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics get underway in Osaka, Japan.^[18]
• August 31 – Crypton Future Media's first Vocaloid on their Character Vocal Series, Hatsune Miku, is released for Vocaloid 2 software.

September

• September 12 – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announces his resignation.
• September 14 – The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully launches SELENE, the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program, on a mission to explore the Moon.^[19]
• September 23 – Yasuo Fukuda, a political moderate, is elected by Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party to become the country's next prime minister.^[20]

November

• November 18 – Japan resumes whaling of humpbacks for the first time in 40 years. Greenpeace and other environmentalist groups condemn the decision.^[21]
• November 28 – The Chinese Type 051B destroyer Shenzhen visits Tokyo in the first visit of a Chinese warship to Japan since World War II.^[22]

December

• December 19 – A 32-year-old police sergeant shoots himself inside a kōban in front of Tokyo Station.

Births

• August 30 – Momiji Nishiya, Olympic skateboarder^[23]

Deaths

• January 5 – Momofuku Ando, inventor of Instant noodles and Cup Noodles, founder of Nissin Foods
• January 8 – Iwao Takamoto, animator
• April 18 – Iccho Itoh, mayor of Nagasaki
• May 3 – Knock Yokoyama, comedian and politician
• May 27 – Izumi Sakai, singer
• May 28 – Toshikatsu Matsuoka, politician
• June 28 – Kiichi Miyazawa, 78th Prime Minister
• July 18 – Kenji Miyamoto, politician^[24]
• August 28 – Miyoshi Umeki, actress
• September 7 – Kenji Nagai, journalist (b. 1957)^[25]
• October 7 – Norifumi Abe, motorcycle road racer
• October 12 – Kurokawa Kisho, architect
• November 13 – Kazuhisa Inao, baseball player

See also

• 2007 in Japanese music
• 2007 in Japanese television
• List of Japanese films of 2007

Notes and References

1. Web site: Akihito Biography, Reign, & Facts . Encyclopedia Britannica . 27 March 2019 . en.
2. Web site: Rare shark captured on film. CNN. January 24, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070126120825/http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/01/24/shark.japan.reut/index.html. January 26, 2007. dead.
3. News: Winter. Michael. 7.0 quake hits off Okinawa; tsunami warnings canceled. USA Today. February 26, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100226235402/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/02/magnitude-73-quake-hits-off-japan/1. February 26, 2010. live.
4. News: 1 dead, 162 injured in Japan quake. China Daily. March 25, 2007.
5. News: Tabuchi. Hiroko. Hiroko Tabuchi . Japan Apologizes to WWII Sex Slaves. The Washington Post. March 26, 2007.
6. Web site: Tokyo's governor wins third term. BBC. April 9, 2007.
7. Web site: Ueno. Kiyori. Yamamura. Keiichi. Japan Extends Sanctions on North Korea for Six Months. Bloomberg. https://web.archive.org/web/20070930044428/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aKJhe2lSOOO8&refer=japan. September 30, 2007. dead.
8. News: Nishiyama. George. Mayor of Japanese city dies after being shot. Reuters. April 17, 2007.
9. Web site: Japan raid on pro-Pyongyang group. BBC. April 25, 2007.
10. Martin . Craig . May 2, 2007 . The Case Against Revising Interpretations of the Japanese Constitution . The Asia-Pacific Journal . Japan Focus . 5 . 5 . 1 . May 5, 2016.
11. News: Medel. Monica. Japan's Mori wins troubled Miss Universe contest. Reuters. May 29, 2007.
12. News: Kyodo News. Political circles shocked by suicide. 13 June 2015. The Japan Times. May 29, 2007.
13. Web site: 2,100-year-old melon dug up. The Japan Times. 4 June 2007 . 18 August 2014.
14. Web site: Japan renames island of Iwo Jima. BBC. June 21, 2007.
15. Web site: Japan minister quits over gaffe. BBC. July 3, 2007.
16. Web site: Japan swears in new defense minister. Market Watch. July 4, 2007.
17. Web site: McLeod. Shane. Japan's Agriculture Minister quits. ABC (AU). July 31, 2007.
18. Web site: World Champs day one as it happened. BBC. August 25, 2007.
19. Web site: Japan launches first lunar probe . BBC. September 14, 2007.
20. News: Onishi. Norimitsu. Moderate Is Chosen as Japan's Next Prime Minister. The New York Times. September 23, 2007.
21. Web site: Japanese whalers hunt humpbacks. BBC. November 18, 2007.
22. Web site: Talmadge. Eric. China Warship Makes 1st Visit to Japan. Associated Press. November 27, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071211143706/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jC1zO3rH6xWRODUovq0ZM151JTXgD8T6CCP00. December 11, 2007. dead.
23. Web site: Skateboarding NISHIYA Momiji - Tokyo 2020 Olympics . Olympics.com . 26 July 2021 . en-us . 28 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210728052226/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/skateboarding/athlete-profile-n1315689-nishiya-momiji.htm . dead .
24. News: Douglas. Martin. Kenji Miyamoto, 98, Leader of Japan's Communist Party, Dies . . 2007-07-20 . 2007-08-06 .
25. News: Japanese journalist first foreign victim of Myanmar clashes . . September 28, 2007. September 28, 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080601225659/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i9njHm47JNdhFWGOlyGw15TuDTZw . June 1, 2008 .