2008 in Japan

← 2007 2006 2005 2008 in Japan → 2009 2010 2011
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2008 History of Japan  • Timeline  • Years

Events in the year 2008 in Japan .

Incumbents

• Emperor: Akihito ^[1]
• Prime Minister: Yasuo Fukuda (Liberal Democratic Party–Gunma) to September 24 Taro Aso (L–Fukuoka)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Nobutaka Machimura (L–Hokkaidō) to September 24 Takeo Kawamura (L–Yamaguchi)
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Nirō Shimada to November 21 Hironobu Takesaki from November 25
• President of the House of Representatives: Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa)
• President of the House of Councillors: Satsuki Eda (D–Okayama)
• Diet sessions: 168th (extraordinary session continued from 2007, to January 15), 169th (regular, January 18 to June 21), 170th (extraordinary, September 24 to December 25)

Governors

• Aichi Prefecture: Masaaki Kanda
• 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: Masaaki Osawa
• Hiroshima Prefecture: Yūzan Fujita
• Hokkaido: Harumi Takahashi
• Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido
• Ibaraki Prefecture: Masaru Hashimoto
• Ishikawa Prefecture: Masanori Tanimoto
• Iwate Prefecture: Takuya Tasso
• Kagawa Prefecture: Takeki Manabe
• Kagoshima Prefecture: Satoshi Mitazono
• Kanagawa Prefecture: Shigefumi Matsuzawa
• Kochi Prefecture: Masanao Ozaki
• Kumamoto Prefecture: Yoshiko Shiotani (until 16 April); Ikuo Kabashima (starting 16 April)
• Kyoto Prefecture: Keiji Yamada
• Mie Prefecture: Akihiko Noro
• Miyagi Prefecture: Yoshihiro Murai
• Miyazaki Prefecture: Hideo Higashikokubaru
• Nagano Prefecture: Jin Murai
• Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko
• Nara Prefecture: Shōgo Arai
• Niigata Prefecture: Hirohiko Izumida
• Oita Prefecture: Katsusada Hirose
• Okayama Prefecture: Masahiro Ishii
• Okinawa Prefecture: Hirokazu Nakaima
• Osaka Prefecture: Fusae Ōta (until 5 February); Tōru Hashimoto (starting 6 February)
• Saga Prefecture: Yasushi Furukawa
• Saitama Prefecture: Kiyoshi Ueda
• Shiga Prefecture: Yukiko Kada
• Shiname Prefecture: Zenbe Mizoguchi
• Shizuoka Prefecture: Yoshinobu Ishikawa
• Tochigi Prefecture: Tomikazu Fukuda
• Tokushima Prefecture: Kamon Iizumi
• Tokyo: Shintarō Ishihara
• Tottori Prefecture: Shinji Hirai
• Toyama Prefecture: Takakazu Ishii
• Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshinobu Nisaka
• Yamagata Prefecture: Hiroshi Saitō
• Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii
• Yamanashi Prefecture: Shōmei Yokouchi

Events

A bridge which collapsed during the 2008 Iwate–Miyagi Nairiku earthquake

• January 31 – Nine people are hospitalized after eating gyōza made at the Tianyang Food Plant in China. ^[2]
• February 11 – Okinawa police arrest United States Marine Tyrone Hadnott and charge him with raping a middle-school girl. ^[3]
• February 19
  • Kei Nishikori wins an ATP title. At age 18, he is the youngest player to win the title after Lleyton Hewitt won it at age 16 in 1998. ^[4]
  • A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Atago collides with fishing boat Seitoku Maru at 4:07 am, off the coast of Chiba Prefecture. ^[5]
• February 22
  • The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force resumes fueling warships from the United States and its allies. ^[6]
  • Kazuyoshi Miura is arrested in Saipan on suspicion of involvement with the murder of his wife in 1981. ^[7]
• February 25 – The Supreme Court upheld life sentence of Daisuke Mori. ^[8]
• June 8 – The Akihabara massacre takes place in Tokyo. A man kills seven in an attack on a crowd using a truck and a dagger. ^[9]
• June 14 – the 2008 Iwate earthquake strikes northern Honshū, leaving two dead and hundreds injured. ^[10]
• June 17 – Serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki is executed by hanging. ^[11]
• July 7 – July 9 – G8 summit hosted by Japan.
• September 6 – Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announces his resignation.
• September 24 – The Diet elects Taro Aso Prime Minister.
• October – Toyota launches yet another Avensis at the 2008 Paris Motor Show to be built in Britain.
• October 1 – Arson claims 15 lives in a pre-dawn fire at an adult-video shop in Osaka. ^[12]
• October 10 (U.S. Pacific Daylight Time) – Kazuyoshi Miura commits suicide in Los Angeles while under arrest on suspicion of involvement in the murder of his wife. ^[13]
• October 17 – Japan won their tenth nonpermanent seat for 2009 and 2010 sessions on the United Nations Security Council, defeating Iran by 158 votes to 32 in elections in the General Assembly ^[14]

The Nobel Prize

• Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi (physicist), Toshihide Maskawa: 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics winners.

Deaths

• January 16: Tamako Kataoka, painter
• January 17: Jinzō Toriumi, screenwriter
• February 13: Kon Ichikawa, film director
• February 29: Kenji Yanagiya, fighter ace of the Imperial Japanese Army
• March 3: Taichirō Hirokawa, voice actor and narrator
• March 11: Akemi Negishi, actress
• April 2: Momoko Ishii, author
• June 6: Saeko Himuro, novelist, essayist, and playwright
• June 9: Kan Mukai, film director, cinematographer, producer and screenwriter
• June 17: Tsutomu Miyazaki, serial killer
• June 18: Miyuki Kanbe, model and actress
• June 27: Daihachi Oguchi, drummer
• August 2: Fujio Akatsuka, manga artist
• August 4: Eri Kawai, singer
• August 11: Arase Nagahide, sumo wrestler
• August 14: Seiji Aochi, ski jumper
• August 16: Masanobu Fukuoka, microbiologist
• October 10: Kazuyoshi Miura, businessman
• October 27: Frank Nagai, singer
• November 7: Hidetaka Nishiyama, master of Shotokan karate
• November 10: Kiyoshi Itō, mathematician
• December 5: Shūichi Katō, critic
• December 16: Ai Iijima, media personality and AV idol
• Undated: Yoshinao Kodaira, officer and fighter ace

See also

• 2008 in Japanese music
• 2008 in Japanese television
• List of Japanese films of 2008

References

1. "Akihito | Biography, Reign, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
2. Yoshida, Reiji (2008-01-31). "10 sick after eating tainted 'gyoza' from China". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
3. Shimizu, Kaho (2008-02-13). "Okinawa rape case sparks resentment". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
4. "Nishikori defeats Blake, captures first ATP title". The Japan Times. 2008-02-20. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
5. "JCG hints destroyer was at fault in collision". 2008-02-20. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
6. "MSDF refueling mission resumed". The Japan Times. 2008-02-22. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
7. "Arrest warrant says Japanese businessman orchestrated wife's killing in Los Angeles". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
8. "Top court dismisses nurse's protest over life sentence for murdering patient". HDR Japan. 2008-03-12. Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
9. McCurry, Justin (2008-06-10). "Japan: Killer of seven gave online warning of Tokyo rampage". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
10. Strong earthquake rattles Japan. Retrieved June 14, 2008.
11. Japan hangs serial killer of young girls and 2 others. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
12. "Fire kills 15 in Japanese video shop – CNN.com". Archived from the original on October 3, 2008.
13. NHKニュース　ロス疑惑 三浦元社長が自殺 Archived 2008-10-12 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved October 11, 2008.
14. MacFarquhar, Neil (October 17, 2008). "3 Nations Win Security Council Seats". The New York Times– via NYTimes.com.