Events in the year 2005 in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Incumbents

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Akihito Akihito (born 23 December 1933) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 1989 until 2019 Japanese imperial transition, his abdication in 2019. The era of his rule was named the Heisei era, Hei ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ...

( L–Kanagawa) * Chief Cabinet Secretary:

Hiroyuki Hosoda was a Japanese politician who served as the speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan from November 2021 to October 2023. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1990, and served as Chief Cabinet Secretary in Junichiro Koi ...

(L–Shimane) to October 31,

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...

(L–Yamaguchi) * Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

: Akira Machida * President of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

: Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa) to August 8 and again from September 21 * President of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...

: Chikage Ōgi (L–proportional) * Diet sessions: 162nd (regular, January 21 to August 8), 163rd (special, September 26 to November 1) – 162nd and 163rd Diet are also often referred to as ''yūsei kokkai'', "postal Diet"

Governors

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

: Masaaki Kanda *Akita Prefecture: Sukeshiro Terata *

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

Shingo Mimura is a Japanese politician who served as Governor of Aomori Prefecture for five terms, from June 29, 2003 to June 28, 2023. He previously served as a member of House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodi ...

*Chiba Prefecture:

Akiko Dōmoto was the governor of Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders ...

*Ehime Prefecture: Moriyuki Kato *Fukui Prefecture: Issei Nishikawa *Fukuoka Prefecture: Wataru Asō *Fukushima Prefecture: Eisaku Satō *Gifu Prefecture: Taku Kajiwara (until 5 February); Hajime Furuta (starting 6 February) *Gunma Prefecture: Hiroyuki Kodera * Hiroshima Prefecture: Yūzan Fujita *

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

: Harumi Takahashi *Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido *

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,828,086 (1 July 2023) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

: Masaru Hashimoto *

Ishikawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...

: Masanori Tanimoto *Iwate Prefecture: Hiroya Masuda *Kagawa Prefecture: Takeki Manabe *Kagoshima Prefecture: Satoshi Mitazono *

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

: Shigefumi Matsuzawa *Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto *

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

: Yoshiko Shiotani *

Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...

: Keiji Yamada *Mie Prefecture: Akihiko Noro *

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

: Shirō Asano (until 21 November);

Yoshihiro Murai is a Japanese politician who has served as governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head o ...

(starting 21 November) *Miyazaki Prefecture:

Tadahiro Ando was the Governor of Miyazaki Prefecture from 2003 to 2006. In 2009, Ando was convicted of bribe-taking and bid-rigging which were offences that he had committed earlier when he was governor. References Japanese politicians convicted of c ...

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

: Yasuo Tanaka *Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko *Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto *

Niigata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...

: Hirohiko Izumida *Oita Prefecture: Katsusada Hirose *

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

: Masahiro Ishii *

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

: Keiichi Inamine *

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

: Fusae Ōta *

Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...

: Yasushi Furukawa *

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

Kiyoshi Ueda is a Japanese politician currently serving as a member of the House of Councillors for the Saitama at-large district after winning a by-election in 2019. He has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, signaling his opposition to any and all tax i ...

Shiga Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...

: Yoshitsugu Kunimatsu *Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita *Shizuoka Prefecture: Yoshinobu Ishikawa *Tochigi Prefecture: Tomikazu Fukuda *Tokushima Prefecture: Kamon Iizumi *

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

: Shintarō Ishihara *Tottori Prefecture: Yoshihiro Katayama *Toyama Prefecture: Takakazu Ishii *Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshiki Kimura *Yamagata Prefecture: Kazuo Takahashi (until 13 February); Hiroshi Saitō (starting 14 February) *Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii *Yamanashi Prefecture: Takahiko Yamamoto

Events

January

* January 1: The

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...

for murder cases is extended from 15 to 25 years.

February

* February 17:

Chubu Centrair International Airport is an international airport on an artificial island (which also houses the ) in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan. The airport covers about 470 hectares (1,161 acres) of land and has one runway. ...

opens.

March

* March 2: A Nanpū express train on the Tosa Kuroshio Railway Sukumo Line derails and crashes into Sukumo Station, killing the train driver. * March 16: The

Shimane Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a ge ...

assembly declares "Takeshima Day" to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Japan's claim to

Liancourt Rocks The Liancourt Rocks, known in Korea as Dokdo () and in Japan as Takeshima (), are a group of islets in the Sea of Japan between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago administered by South Korea. The Liancourt Rocks comprise two ...

(known as ''Takeshima'' in Japan, and ''Dokdo'' in Korea), starting a wave of protests in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. * March 20: 2005 Fukuoka earthquake * March 25: **

Expo 2005 Expo 2005 was a world expo held for 185 days between Friday, March 25 and Sunday, September 25, 2005, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, east of the city of Nagoya. Japan has also hosted Expo '70 Osaka (World Expo), Expo '75 Okinawa (Specialised Expo) ...

opens in

. **

Lazytown ''LazyTown'' () is an Icelandic children's educational musical television series created by aerobics champion Magnús Scheving. Originally produced in English, it has been broadcast in dozens of languages globally. Designed to encourage health ...

premieres on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

, but it was not a success, airing its last on that channel 2 weeks later before moving to NHK General Television.

April

* April 1 ** Shizuoka City is designated by government ordinance. ** The Japan-

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

free trade agreement becomes effective **

Tokyo Metropolitan University , often referred to as TMU, is a Public university, public research university in Hachiōji, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan. In contrast to other non-private universities in Tokyo, the university is established under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, ...

is established. * April 20: A magnitude 5.8 earthquake hits

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders ...

, injuring 56. * April 25: 107 commuters are killed, 562 injured in the Amagasaki rail crash near

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

May

* May 3: A

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

police helicopter crashes in Shizuoka city, killing five police officers who were on board. * May 22: Prosecutors raided the offices of the 47 firms involved in the bridge scandal.

June

* June 23 ** 60th anniversary of the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...

- a ceremony to remember the dead is held at the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Park. ** The first case of the H5N2 virus in Japan is discovered on a chicken farm in Jōsō, Ibaraki.

July

* July 15: Two tankers collide in the Kumano Sea, with one bursting into flames, resulting in one death.

August

* August 8:

Postal service privatization Several countries have undergone or are in various stages of privatizing their national postal service: Germany * Deutsche Post :Privatized in 2000. As of early 2005, 20% of outstanding shares were owned by the German government through the K ...

, the keystone of Prime Minister Koizumi's platform, is voted down in the House of Councillors. Later in the day, Koizumi announces the dissolution of the House of Representatives and snap elections to be held the following month.7 * August 24: The

Tsukuba Express The , or TX, is a Japanese railway line operated by the Third-sector railway, third-sector company Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company, which links Akihabara Station in Chiyoda, Tokyo and Tsukuba Station in Tsukuba, Ibaraki. The route was ...

line opens.

September

* September 11: Following a

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, the Liberal Democratic Party wins the largest House of Representatives majority in postwar history, holding a two-thirds supermajority along with coalition partner New Komeito. * September 17: Seiji Maehara defeats

Naoto Kan is a Japanese former politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from June 2010 to September 2011. Kan was the first Prime Minister since the resignation of Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 to ...

for the presidency of the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a Centrism, centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to Centre-left politics, centre-left, Liberalism, liberal or Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Japan, ...

. * September 21: Koizumi is re-elected as prime minister at an extraordinary session of the Diet. * September 25: Expo 2005 ends.

October

* October 1: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is formed by the merger of two Japanese banking conglomerates. * October 14: The Postal Privatisation Bill enters the Diet. * October 17: Koizumi visits Yasukuni Shrine for the first time since 2004. * October 31: Koizumi reshuffles his cabinet, naming

as Chief Cabinet Secretary, Heizo Takenaka as Minister of Internal Affairs and Taro Aso as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

November

* November 15: Sayako Kuroda, Princess Sayako marries commoner Yoshiki Kuroda, thus giving up her imperial title. * November 17: Structural Calculation Forgery Problem is discovered, and it becomes a serious social problem.

December

* December 25: An express train bound for the city of Niigata, Niigata, Niigata, Niigata Prefecture derails due to strong winds in Shōnai, Yamagata, Shonai, Yamagata Prefecture, killing 5 and injuring at least 33.

Date unknown

Japanese official abandoned national project and development of superconducting passenger ferry ''Techno Superliner'', due to high fuel cost.

Births

* February 10: Rio Suzuki, actress and tarento * June 17: Funa Nakayama, Olympic skateboarder * October 4: Rina Endō, actress * October 27: Ri Kyong-su, Demographics of North Korea, North Korean professional footballer

Deaths

* January 4: Kishibe Shigeo, musicologist (born 1912) * January 14: Takeshi Suzuki (academic), Takeshi Suzuki, professor of Urdu (born 1932) * January 16: Yoshito Matsushige, photojournalist (born 1913) * January 23: Mutsuko Sakura, actress (born 1921) * February 19: Kihachi Okamoto, film director (born 1924) * February 28: Yukio Koshimori, politician (born 1930) * March 6: Sadako Kurihara, poet (born 1913) * March 22: Kenzo Tange, architect (born 1913) * April 20: Fumio Niwa, author (born 1904) * May 23: Tetsuya Ishida, painter (born 1973) * June: Satoru Anabuki, flying ace (born 1921) * June 10: Yumiko Kurahashi, writer (born 1935) * June 28: Yumika Hayashi, AV idol and pink film actress (born 1970) * July 11: Shinya Hashimoto, wrestler (born 1965) * July 16: Gu, Prince Imperial Hoeun (born 1931) * July 19: Toku Nishio, actor and voice actor (born 1939) * August 12: Teruo Ishii, film director (born 1924) * November 4: Hiro Takahashi, singer, lyricist, and composer (born 1964 in Japan, 1964) * November 4: Mana Nishiura, drummer (born 1971) * November 6: Minako Honda, idol pop star and singer (born 1967) * November 22: Airi Kinoshita, murder victim (born 1998 in Japan, 1998) * November 25: Yoshio Shiga, fighter ace (born 1914) * November 26: Takanori Arisawa, composer and arranger (born 1951) * Undated: Masao Sasakibara, fighter ace (born 1921)

Statistics

* Wealthiest person in Japan: Nobutada Saji (net worth US$5.8 billion)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2005 In Japan 2005 in Japan, Years of the 21st century in Japan 2005 by country, Japan 2005 in Asia, Japan 2000s in Russia