2013 in Japan

Events in the year 2013 in Japan.

Incumbents

• Emperor: Akihito
• Prime Minister: Shinzō Abe (L–Yamaguchi)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yoshihide Suga (L–Kanagawa)
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Hironobu Takesaki
• President of the House of Representatives: Bunmei Ibuki (L–Kyoto)
• President of the House of Councillors: Kenji Hirata (D–Gifu) until July 28, Masaaki Yamazaki from August 2
• Diet sessions: 183rd (regular, January 28 to June 26), 184th (extraordinary, August 2 to August 7), 185th (extraordinary, October 15 to December 8)

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture: Hideaki Omura
• Akita Prefecture: Norihisa Satake
• Aomori Prefecture: Shingo Mimura
• Chiba Prefecture: Kensaku Morita
• Ehime Prefecture: Tokihiro Nakamura
• Fukui Prefecture: Issei Nishikawa
• Fukuoka Prefecture: Hiroshi Ogawa
• Fukushima Prefecture: YÅ«hei Satō
• Gifu Prefecture: Hajime Furuta
• Gunma Prefecture: Masaaki Osawa
• Hiroshima Prefecture: Hidehiko Yuzaki
• Hokkaido: Harumi Takahashi
• Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido
• Ibaraki Prefecture: Masaru Hashimoto
• Ishikawa Prefecture: Masanori Tanimoto
• Iwate Prefecture: Takuya Tasso
• Kagawa Prefecture: Naruto Uzumaki
• Kagoshima Prefecture: Satoshi Mitazono
• Kanagawa Prefecture: Yuji Kuroiwa
• Kochi Prefecture: Masanao Ozaki
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Ikuo Kabashima
• Kyoto Prefecture: Keiji Yamada
• Mie Prefecture: Eikei Suzuki
• Miyagi Prefecture: Yoshihiro Murai
• Miyazaki Prefecture: Shunji Kōno
• Nagano Prefecture: Shuichi Abe
• Nagasaki Prefecture: Hōdō Nakamura
• Nara Prefecture: Shōgo Arai
• Niigata Prefecture: Hirohiko Izumida
• Oita Prefecture: Katsusada Hirose
• Okayama Prefecture: Ryuta Ibaragi
• Okinawa Prefecture: Hirokazu Nakaima
• Osaka Prefecture: Ichirō Matsui
• Saga Prefecture: Yasushi Furukawa
• Saitama Prefecture: Kiyoshi Ueda
• Shiga Prefecture: Yukiko Kada
• Shiname Prefecture: Zenbe Mizoguchi
• Shizuoka Prefecture: Heita Kawakatsu
• Tochigi Prefecture: Tomikazu Fukuda
• Tokushima Prefecture: Kamon Iizumi
• Tokyo: Naoki Inose (until 24 December); Tatsumi Ando (starting 24 December)
• Tottori Prefecture: Shinji Hirai
• Toyama Prefecture: Takakazu Ishii
• Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshinobu Nisaka
• Yamagata Prefecture: Mieko Yoshimura
• Yamaguchi Prefecture: Tsugumasa Muraoka
• Yamanashi Prefecture: Shōmei Yokouchi

Events

January

• January 9 – Early reports show Japan’s economy is expected to recover slowly in 2013 under "Abenomics," with fiscal stimulus, monetary easing, and a weaker yen.
• January 13 – January 2013 Northwest Pacific bomb cyclone causes 1,600 injuries across Japan.
• January 21 – Human Rights Watch sends a letter to newly inaugurated Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urging Japan to lead the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights violations and abductions by North Korea.

March

• March 15 – Caroline Kennedy arrives in Tokyo as the U.S. Ambassador, three days before the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination.
• March 17 – Chiba gubernatorial election: Kensaku Morita retains governorship of prefecture.
• March 30 – An Advanced Liquid Processing System begins operating at Fukushima Daiichi to improve the treatment of contaminated water.

April

• April 28 – By-election for House of Councillors in Yamaguchi – Kiyoshi Ejima is elected to the House.

June

• June to October – 2013 Japanese heatwave, according to Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare official confirmed report, 1,077 person lost to lives, caused by heat stroke, second worst heatwave disaster in Japan.
• June 16 – Shizuoka gubernatorial election – Heita Kawakatsu re-elected.
• June 22 – Mount Fuji is formally added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
• June 23 – Tokyo legislative election – The Democratic Party of Japan loses control of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly to the Liberal Democratic Party.

July

• July 21 – 2013 Japanese House of Councillors election, Hyōgo gubernatorial election

August

• August 15 – An explosion at the 2013 Fukuchiyama Firework Festival event kills 3, injures 59.

September

• September 7 – The 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina award the rights to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo over Istanbul and Madrid.
• September 8 – Ibaraki gubernatorial election – Masaru Hashimoto enters his sixth term as governor.
• September 15 – Wladimir Balentien breaks the 49-year-old Nippon Professional Baseball home run record with 60 home runs.

October

• October 11 – A fire at the Abe Orthopaedic Surgery Hospital in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka kills 10 and injures 5.
• October – Typhoon Wipha kills at least 17 people in Ōshima, Tokyo; at the request of governor Naoki Inose, GSDF troops are dispatched. On the mainland, the storm causes major traffic disruptions and kills one woman in Machida, Tokyo.
• October 27 – Miyagi gubernatorial election: Incumbent governor Yoshihiro Murai's only challenger is JCP-supported lawyer Masaaki Satō.

November

• November 10 – Hiroshima gubernatorial election – Hidehiko Yuzaki re-elected.
• November 25 – Human Rights Watch urges revisions to Japan’s draft Special Secrets Bill over concerns about press freedom and whistleblower protections.

December

• December 4 – Washoku is recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.
• December 6 – Special Secrecy Law passes the National Diet
• December 19 – Naoki Inose announces his resignation as Governor of Tokyo following allegations of dubious loans from the Tokushukai medical group.
• December 26 – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, honoring Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals, drawing international criticism from China, South Korea, and the U.S.

Deaths

• January 15 – Nagisa Oshima, director (b. 1932)
• January 19 – Taihō Kōki, sumo wrestler (b. 1940)
• January 20 – Toyo Shibata, poet (b. 1911)
• February 18 – Chieko Honda, voice actress (b. 1963)
• April 4 – Noboru Yamaguchi, writer (b. 1972)
• April 29 – Shinji Maki, comedian (b. 1934)
• June 12 – Jiroemon Kimura, supercentenarian, oldest man ever, world's oldest living person (b. 1897)
• June 13 – Kenji Utsumi, actor (b. 1937)
• September 2 – Makoto Moroi, composer (b. 1930)
• September 19 – Hiroshi Yamauchi, businessman (b. 1927)
• October 13 – Takashi Yanase, manga artist (b. 1919)
• October 28 – Tetsuharu Kawakami, baseball player (b. 1920)
• November 8 – Chiyoko Shimakura, singer and TV presenter (b. 1938)
• November 13 – Chieko Aioi, actress (b. 1934)
• December 30 – Eiichi Ōtaki, musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer (b. 1948)

See also

• 2013 in Japanese music
• 2013 in Japanese television
• List of Japanese films of 2013

References