2016 in Japan

← 2015 2014 2013 2016 in Japan → 2017 2018 2019
Decades:	1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2016 History of Japan  • Timeline  • Years

The following lists events that happened during 2016 in Japan .

• Year: Heisei 28

Incumbents

• Emperor: Akihito ^[1]
• Prime Minister: Shinzō Abe (L–Yamaguchi)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yoshihide Suga (L–Kanagawa)
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Itsurō Terada
• President of the House of Representatives: Tadamori Oshima (L–Aomori)
• President of the House of Councillors: Masaaki Yamazaki (L–Fukui) until July 25, Chūichi Date (L-Hokkaidō) from August 1
• National Diets: 190th (regular session, January 4–June 1), 191st (extraordinary session, August 1–3), 192nd (extraordinary session, September 26–November 30 [unless extended or cut short by lower house dissolution]) ^[2]

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: Masao Uchibori
• 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: Keizō Hamada
• 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 (until 27 October); Ryūichi Yoneyama (starting 27 October)
• Oita Prefecture: Katsusada Hirose
• Okayama Prefecture: Ryuta Ibaragi
• Okinawa Prefecture: Takeshi Onaga
• Osaka Prefecture: Ichirō Matsui
• Saga Prefecture: Yoshinori Yamaguchi
• Saitama Prefecture: Kiyoshi Ueda
• Shiga Prefecture: Taizō Mikazuki
• Shiname Prefecture: Zenbe Mizoguchi
• Shizuoka Prefecture: Heita Kawakatsu
• Tochigi Prefecture: Tomikazu Fukuda
• Tokushima Prefecture: Kamon Iizumi
• Tokyo:
  • until 21 June: Yōichi Masuzoe
  • 21 June-2 August: Tatsumi Ando
  • starting 2 August: Yuriko Koike
• Tottori Prefecture: Shinji Hirai
• Toyama Prefecture: Takakazu Ishii
• Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshinobu Nisaka
• Yamagata Prefecture: Mieko Yoshimura
• Yamaguchi Prefecture: Tsugumasa Muraoka
• Yamanashi Prefecture: Hitoshi Gotō

Events

January

• Record snowfall and the first Sumo tournament win in a decade for a Japanese rikishi, amid turmoil on the Nikkei 225 and a political scandal involving Abe's cabinet. (See Akira Amari)
• Filmmaker and dolphin activist Ric O'Barry was refused entry to the country and was held prior to deportation.

February

• February 17 - launch of Hitomi (satellite), ChubuSat-2, ChubuSat-3 and Horyu-4 using a H-IIA 202 space launch vehicle

March

• March 11 - Japan commemorates the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent of Fukushima nuclear disaster.
• March 25 - Kyoto Tamba Kogen Quasi-National Park is established
• March 25 - Asagishi, Hanasaki (Hokkaido), Higashi-Oiwake, Kami-Shirataki, Kanehana, Kyū-Shirataki, Ōshida, Shimo-Shirataki, Tomisato and Washinosu stations are closed
• March 26 - Higashi-Himeji, Nishi-kumamoto, Ishinomakiayumino, Odasakae and Maya stations opens
• March 26 - Hokkaido Shinkansen starts its service from Shin-Aomori Station to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station
• March 26 - Museum of Natural and Environmental History, Shizuoka opens
• March 27 – Kumamoto gubernatorial election: Incumbent Ikuo Kabashima reelected for a third term ^[3]
• March 27 - Democratic Party (Japan) is established

April

• April 2 - Tsuyama Railroad Educational Museum opens
• April 16 – A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Kumamoto prefecture, and kills at least 50 people and 3,129 injured.
• April 24 – National Diet, House of Representatives: By-elections in Hokkaido 5th district and in Kyoto 3rd district

May

• May 1–2 - G7 Kitakyushu Energy Ministerial Meeting
• May 23 - Akatsuki (spacecraft) begins a scientific mission at Venus after a troubled 5-years travel ^[4]
• May 26–27 – The 42nd G7 summit was held on Kashiko Island

June

• IUPAC declared the element 113 Ununtrium as Nihonium, first element in the periodic table whose name is derived from Japan. ^[5]
• June 5 ^[6] – Okinawa assembly election: Governor Onaga's anti-base, left-wing supporters expand their majority

July

• July 10 – National Diet, House of Councillors: 24th regular election
• July 10 ^[7] – Kagoshima gubernatorial election
• July 23 – Tatsuo Hirano, independent member of the House of Councillors from Iwate, joins the Liberal Democratic Party, giving the party the first majority of its own since the 1989 election defeat ^[8]
• July 26 - A knife attack in Sagamihara kills 19 people and injures up to 50.
• July 31 ^[9] – Tokyo gubernatorial, assembly by-elections

August

• Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics
• August 21: Russell M. Nelson dedicates the Sapporo Japan Temple, the 151st LDS temple and third LDS temple in Japan. ^[10]

September

• July to September - According to Japan National Police Agency official confirmed report, 48 hospitalized patients were die, administer disinfectant liquid diamitol giving for hospitalized patients in hospital, Yokohama. On 7 July 2018, a nurse of the main criminal detained and confessed, according to JNPA. ^[11]

October

• October 16 ^[12] – Niigata gubernatorial election
• October 21 - A Richer Scale 6.2 earthquake, with aftershocks in Kurayoshi, Tottori Prefecture, according to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, 30 persons were wounded. ^[13]
• October 23 ^[14] – Okayama gubernatorial election
• October 23 ^[15] – Toyama gubernatorial election
• October 23 – National Diet, House of Representatives: By-elections in Fukuoka, 6th district ^[16] and in Tokyo, 10th district
• October 25 - Two explosions in a park in the Japanese city of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, kill at least one person and injure three others. Local media report that a 72-year-old ex-military officer is responsible for the blasts. A fire the same day destroyed the suspect's house. (The Guardian), (BBC)

November

• November 20 ^[17] – Tochigi gubernatorial election

December

5th: Abe declares his historic plan to visit Pearl Harbor

• December 18 - A bottoming net fishing boat Daifuku Maru capsized off coast Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, according to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, nine people lost to lives.^{[ page needed ]}
• December 22 - A massive fire in Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture, according to Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency confirmed report, 17 person wounded. ^[18]

The Nobel Prize

• Yoshinori Ohsumi: 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine winner.

Culture

Arts and entertainment

• List of 2016 box office number-one films in Japan
• March 4 - 39th Japan Academy Prize
• March 12 - 10th Seiyu Awards

Arts and entertainment

• 2016 in anime
• 2016 in Japanese music
• 2016 in Japanese television
• List of 2016 box office number-one films in Japan
• List of Japanese films of 2016

Sports

• October 9 – 2016 Formula One World Championship is held at 2016 Japanese Grand Prix
• October 16 – 2016 MotoGP World Championship is held at 2016 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix

• 2016 F4 Japanese Championship
• 2016 Japanese Formula 3 Championship
• 2016 Super Formula Championship
• 2016 Super GT Series

• 2016 FIFA Club World Cup (Japan)
• 2016 in Japanese football
• 2016 J1 League
• 2016 J2 League
• 2016 J3 League
• 2016 Japan Football League
• 2016 Japanese Regional Leagues
• 2016 Japanese Super Cup
• 2016 Emperor's Cup
• 2016 J.League Cup

Deaths

Kunio Hatoyama

Chiyonofuji Mitsugu

Junko Tabei

Mikijirō Hira

Takahito, Prince Mikasa

April

• April 3 – Kōji Wada, rock singer (b. 1974)

May

• May 5 – Isao Tomita, composer (b. 1932)
• May 17 – Yūko Mizutani, voice actress (b. 1964)

June

• June 21 – Kunio Hatoyama, politician (b. 1948)

July

• July 31 – Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, sumo wrestler (b. 1955)

October

• October 20 – Junko Tabei, mountaineer (b. 1939)
• October 23 – Mikijirō Hira, actor (b. 1933)
• October 27 – Takahito, Prince Mikasa, brother of Emperor Shōwa (b. 1915)

November

• November 3 – Jiang Ge, murder victim (b. 1992)
• November 29 – Hiroshi Ogawa  [ ja ], announcer (b. 1926)

December

• December 29 – Jinpachi Nezu, actor (b. 1947)

See also

• 2016 in anime
• 2016 in Japanese music
• 2016 in Japanese television
• List of Japanese films of 2016

References

1. "Akihito | Biography, Reign, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
2. House of Representatives: National Diet sessions (in Japanese)
3. Asahi Shimbun, March 27: 熊本県知事選、蒲島氏が3選 新顔2人を大差で破る
4. "JAXA | Venus Climate Orbiter "AKATSUKI" (PLANET-C)". JAXA | Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
5. "IUPAC is naming the four new elements nihonium, moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson". IUPAC | International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. June 8, 2016.
6. Asahi Shimbun, May 27: 71人が届け出、沖縄県議選告示 基地問題争点に
7. Kagoshima prefectural government, election commission: national, prefectural and municipal elections due in 2016
8. Asahi Shimbun Digital, July 24, 21016: 自民、27年ぶり参院単独過半数 平野・元復興相が入党
9. Tokyo metropolitan government, election commission: National, prefectural and municipal elections in 2016
10. Weaver, Sarah Jane (August 21, 2016). "President Russell M. Nelson dedicates Sapporo Japan Temple". Deseret News. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
11. ja:大口病院連続点滴中毒死事件 (Japanese language) Retrieved 12 July 2018.
12. Jiji press, May 17: 10月16日投開票=新潟知事選 Archived 2016-07-01 at the Wayback Machine
13. ja:鳥取県中部地震 (Japanese language) Retrieved date on March 30, 2017
14. Okayama prefectural government, election commission, May 25: 岡山県知事選挙等の日程を決定しました Archived 2016-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
15. Toyama prefectural government, election commission: Election schedules
16. Nishi-Nippon Shimbun, June 22, 2016 evening edition: 鳩山邦夫元総務相が死去 政治家一族、衆院福岡6区 Archived 2016-06-23 at the Wayback Machine
17. Jiji Press, August 26: 栃木知事選、11月20日投開票 Archived 2016-10-12 at the Wayback Machine
18. ja:糸魚川市大規模火災 (Japanese language) Retrieved date on March 21, 2016