Events in the year 2025 in Japan.
Incumbents
Arts and entertainment
Events
January
February
- February 3 â Former MP Tamotsu Shiiki is sentenced to a five-year suspended prison sentence for raping an underage girl at a karaoke parlor in Tokyo in August 2024.
- February 17 â The Taliban conducts a diplomatic visit to Japan for the first time since taking power in Afghanistan in 2021.
- February 19 â RyÃ
«ji Kimura is convicted and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for the attempted assassination of Fumio Kishida in 2023.
- February 21 â The Cabinet approves a bill to allow bears spotted in urban areas to be shot at hunters' discretion following an increase in encounters and attacks on humans.
- February 26 â The Ã
Âfunato wildfire starts in Iwate Prefecture. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency estimates over 80 homes have been destroyed.
- February 27 â The body of a man is found by police on a road within the Ã
Âfunato wildfire evacuation zone.
- February 28 â The Ã
Âfunato wildfire grows to cover over , making it the largest wildfire on record in Japan.
March
- March 3 â Prime Minister Ishiba gives 100,000-yen gift vouchers to 15 LDP lawmakers, sparking criticism. Ishiba denies breaking political laws.
- March 4 âÂÂ
- The Ã
Âfunato wildfire reaches with over 2,000 firefighters from 14 prefectures fighting the blaze.
- Yuji Iwasawa is elected as President of the International Court of Justice.
- March 6 â The TÃ
Âhoku Shinkansen suffers a decoupling incident involving the Hayabusa and Komachi trains, causing a week-long suspension of services along the Akita and Yamagata Shinkansen lines.
- March 7 â The Nagoya High Court rules that the non-recognition of same-sex marriage in Japan is unconstitutional and discriminatory.
- March 12 â Police arrest several men in Aichi for alleged sexual assault and child pornography.
- March 14 âÂÂ
- NHK Party leader Takashi Tachibana is injured in a stabbing while giving a speech in front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo. The attacker, who confesses an intention to kill Tachibana, is arrested at the scene.
- Police arrest Kenji Takano for fatally stabbing YouTuber Airi Sato during a livestream in Tokyo.
- March 16 â The 2025 Chiba gubernatorial election was held. It was won by the incumbent Toshihito Kumagai.
- March 17 âÂÂ
- A Japanese resident of Belarus is convicted and sentenced by a court in Minsk to seven years' imprisonment for spying for Japanese intelligence.
- The dismantling of the Number 2 Reactor at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant in Shizuoka Prefecture begins in what is the first operation of its kind in Japan.
- March 23 âÂÂ
- Wildfires break out in Okayama and Ehime Prefectures, prompting the evacuation of 3,000 people.
- The 2025 Fukuoka gubernatorial election was held. It was won by the incumbent Seitaro Hattori.
- March 25 âÂÂ
- The Tokyo District Court revokes the legal status of the Unification Church as a religious organization in Japan and orders the group to liquidate its assets.
- The Osaka High Court rules that the non-recognition of same-sex marriage in Japan is unconstitutional and discriminatory.
- March 26 â Professor Masaki Kashiwara of the Institute for Advanced Study of Kyoto University becomes the first person from Japan to be awarded the Abel Prize for his contributions in the field of algebraic analysis.
- March 27 â Former MP Megumi Hirose is sentenced to a suspended 2.5 year prison term for defrauding 3.5 million yen ($23,000) in public funds by claiming salary expenses for a secretary who did no work.
- March 31 â Gyudon chain Sukiya imposes a one-week nationwide closure of its stores for cleanup after revelations of pest contamination in its food items.
April
May
June
July
- July 3 â Akira Otani becomes the first person from Japan to win in the UK-based Dagger Awards for her novel "The Night of Baba Yaga", which wins the best translated crime novel category.
- July 6 â Two people are killed in a knife attack at a bar in Hamamatsu. A suspect is arrested.
- July 7 â The Institute for International Business Communication nullifies the results of 803 applicants who took the Test of English for International Communication exam in Japan from 2023 to 2025 due to cheating.
- July 12 âÂÂ
- Hokkaido Prefecture issues its highest-level alert warning for brown bears for the first time following the death of a man in Fukushima from a suspected bear attack.
- Taiwanese company TiSPACE fails to complete JapanâÂÂs first foreign rocket launch after its VP01 rocket falls shortly after liftoff from Hokkaido Spaceport.
- July 15 âÂÂ
- Typhoon Nari becomes the first tropical cyclone to make landfall over Hokkaido since 2016.
- A building under demolition collapses in Kurume, killing two workers.
- Japan wins the 2025 EAFF E-1 Football Championship after defeating South Korea 1-0 at the final in Yongin.
- July 20 â 2025 Japanese House of Councillors election: The ruling LDPâÂÂKomeito coalition loses its majority in the House of Councillors.
- July 22 âÂÂ
- Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba intended to announced his resignation from office by the end of August.
- US President Donald Trump announces a trade agreement with Japan reducing tariffs on Japanese exports from 25% to 15%.
- July 28 â Six people are injured in a mass stabbing in Mito, Ibaraki. A suspect is arrested.
- July 30 âÂÂ
- A magnitude 8.8 earthquake with an epicenter off the coast of Kamchatka in neighboring Russia triggers tsunamis that affect Japan and results in one indirect death from a car accident in Kumano, Mie.
- The Tokyo District Court orders TEPCO to pay 100 million yen ($676,000) in damages to Katsutaka Idogawa, the former mayor of Futaba, Fukushima, over the impact of the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011.
- The Japan Meteorological Agency records the highest temperature recorded in Japan, at in Tamba, HyÃ
Âgo Prefecture.
August
- August 2 â Four drainage workers are killed after falling into a manhole in GyÃ
Âda, Saitama Prefecture.
- August 5 âÂÂ
- The Japan Meteorological Agency records the highest temperature recorded in Japan, at in Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture, exceeding the previous record set on July 30.
- The first osmotic power plant in Japan opens in Fukuoka Prefecture.
- 102-year old Kokichi Akuzawa becomes the oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Fuji.
- August 7 âÂÂ
- A Mitsubishi F-2 fighter jet of the JASDF crashes off the coast of Ibaraki Prefecture during a training flight. The pilot safely ejects and is rescued.
- Newspaper company Yomiuri Shimbun sues the US-based AI firm Perplexity for its alleged "free riding" of 120,000 articles from February to June 2025.
- August 9 â Ministop begins suspending sales of onigiri and other food items in up to 1,600 stores nationwide following reports of employees tampering with expiry dates.
- August 12 â Three people are reported dead following heavy rainstorms in Kyushu.
- August 13 â A ship carrying gravel collides with a yacht off the coast of Tsukumi, Ã
Âita Prefecture, killing one person.
- August 14 â A climber is killed in a bear attack on Mount Rausu in Hokkaido.
- August 15 â A fire breaks out on the Kodama train of the Tokaido Shinkansen at Gifu-Hashima Station while traveling from Shin-Ã
Âsaka Station to Shizuoka, prompting the evacuation of around 250 passengers.
- August 18 â Two JGSDF personnel are found dead from a lightning strike during an exercise at the Hijudai Training Area in Ã
Âita Prefecture.
- August 20 â The US Navy amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans catches fire off the coast of Okinawa Island, injuring two sailors.
- August 23 â Eighteen people are injured in a pepper spray incident at the Shibuya Hikarie building in Tokyo.
- August 25 â The statue of the Sengoku period warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi is found decapitated in Nagoya.
- August 26 â Newspaper companies The Asahi Shimbun and The Nikkei file a lawsuit against Perplexity AI for copyright infringement.
- August 28 â The Shinmoedake volcano in Kyushu erupts for the first time since July.
September
October
- October 3 âÂÂ
- An overcrowded minivehicle overturns in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, killing five people.
- One person is killed while another is reported missing following a bear attack in Miyagi Prefecture.
- October 4 â 2025 Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) presidential election: Former minister Sanae Takaichi is elected leader of the LDP.
- October 5 â A passenger train with 149 passengers bound for Shibuya Station collides with an out-of-service train near Kajigaya Station in Kawasaki, Kanagawa on the Den-en-toshi Line, causing the latter to derail. No injuries are reported, but services on parts of the line are suspended for 25 hours, affecting about 650,000 passengers.
- October 6 âÂÂ
- A court in France sentences Japan Football Association technical director Masanaga Kageyama to a suspended 18-month prison term and a ban on entering France for 10 years after he was arrested at Charles de Gaulle Airport for viewing child pornography aboard an Air France flight.
- Shimon Sakaguchi of the University of Osaka is named as a co-recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on the immune system.
- October 8 â Susumu Kitagawa of Kyoto University is named as a co-recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on developing porous materials that can store and release gases.
- October 9 â One person dies after being swept away by strong waves generated by Typhoon Halong in Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture.
- October 10 â Komeito leaves the LDP-led governing coalition, citing disagreements with LDP leader Sanae Takaichi.
- October 12 â A Filipino climber dies after being stranded on Mount Hotakadake, between Gifu and Nagano Prefectures.
- October 14 â Masanori Aoki is sentenced to death for carrying out the 2023 Nagano attack.
- October 20 â The LDP and the Japan Innovation Party sign an agreement to form a governing coalition.
- October 21 â Sanae Takaichi is confirmed as prime minister by the House of Representatives.
- October 24 â Prime minister Takaichi announces that she will increase Japan's military budget by 2% by March 2026, a goal previously set for 2027.
- October 26 â The 2025 Miyagi gubernatorial election was held. It was won by the incumbent governor Yoshihiro Murai.
November
December
Elections
Sports
Deaths
January
- January 3
- Hiroshi Hara, architect (b. 1936)
- Yuji Sawa, politician, MP (b. 1948)
- January 4
- Riro, sea otter (b. 2007)
- Kanoko Tsutani-Mabuchi, Olympic diver (b. 1938)
- January 16 â Shoji Ueda, cinematographer (b. 1938)
- January 21 â Keiichi Suzuki, speed skater (b. 1942)
- January 25 â Ikujiro Nonaka, theorist and academician (b. 1935)
- January 26 â Kazuyoshi Akiyama, conductor (b. 1941)
- January 28 â Takuro Morinaga, economist (b. 1957)
- January 29 â Atomu ShimojÃ
Â, actor (b. 1946)
February
March
April
May
June
July
- July 1 â Asahi Sakano, ski jumper (b. 2005)
- July 3 â , actress (b. 1979)
- July 5 â Yoshiomi Tamai, founder of Ashinaga (b. 1935)
- July 9 â Masatoshi NaitÃ
Â, photographer (b. 1938)
- July 18 â Hitomi Obara, wrestler, Olympic champion (2012) (b. 1981)
- July 20 â , guitar maker (b. 1944)
- July 22 â Tsunehiko KamijÃ
Â, singer and actor (b. 1940)
- July 29 â Miyoko Hiroyasu, supercentenarian, oldest living person in Japan (b. 1911)
August
- August 1 â Koji Kinutani, painter (b. 1943)
- August 5 â Tomohiko Hashimoto, professional wrestler (b. 1977)
- August 8 â Grass Wonder, racehorse (b. 1995)
- August 9
- , boxer (b. 1997)
- NoB, singer (b. 1964)
- August 10 â Kunishige Kamamoto, footballer and politician (b. 1944)
- August 13 â Tomo Sakurai, voice actress (b. 1971)
- August 14 â Sen SÃ
Âshitsu XV, tea master, iemoto of Urasenke (1964âÂÂ2002) (b. 1923)
- August 16 â , baseball player (b. 1965)
- August 20 â Tatsuya Nagamine, director (b. 1972)
- August 21 â Saburo Komoto, politician, MP (1992âÂÂ2000, 2003âÂÂ2009).
- August 22 â Kaneichi Kanegae, politician, mayor of Shimabara (1980âÂÂ1992).
- August 27 â Takaya Hashi, voice actor (b. 1952)
September
October
November
December
Date unknown
See also
Country overviews
Related timelines for current period
References
External links