2002 in Japan
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Events in the year 2002 in Japan.
Incumbents
- Emperor: Akihito
- Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi (L–Kanagawa)
- Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yasuo Fukuda (L–Gunma)
- Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Shigeru Yamaguchi until October 30, Akira Machida from November 6
- President of the House of Representatives: Tamisuke Watanuki (L–Toyama)
- President of the House of Councillors: Yutaka Inoue (L–Chiba) until April 22, Hiroyuki Kurata (L–Chiba)
- Diet sessions: 154th (regular, January 21 to July 31), 155th (extraordinary, October 18 to December 13)
Governors
- Aichi Prefecture: Masaaki Kanda
- Akita Prefecture: Sukeshiro Terata
- Aomori Prefecture: Morio Kimura
- Chiba Prefecture: Akiko Dōmoto
- Ehime Prefecture: Moriyuki Kato
- Fukui Prefecture: Yukio Kurita
- Fukuoka Prefecture: Wataru Asō
- Fukushima Prefecture: Eisaku Satō
- Gifu Prefecture: Taku Kajiwara
- Gunma Prefecture: Hiroyuki Kodera
- Hiroshima Prefecture: Yūzan Fujita
- Hokkaido: Tatsuya Hori
- Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido
- Ibaraki Prefecture: Masaru Hashimoto
- Ishikawa Prefecture: Masanori Tanimoto
- Iwate Prefecture: Hiroya Masuda
- Kagawa Prefecture: Takeki Manabe
- Kagoshima Prefecture: Tatsurō Suga
- Kanagawa Prefecture: Hiroshi Okazaki
- Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto
- Kumamoto Prefecture: Yoshiko Shiotani
- Kyoto Prefecture: Teiichi Aramaki (until 15 April) Keiji Yamada (starting 16 April)
- Mie Prefecture: Masayasu Kitagawa
- Miyagi Prefecture: Shirō Asano
- Miyazaki Prefecture: Suketaka Matsukata
- Nagano Prefecture: starting 15 July: Yasuo Tanaka 16 July-5 September: Shuichi Abe starting 5 September: Yasuo Tanaka
- Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko
- Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto
- Niigata Prefecture: Ikuo Hirayama
- Oita Prefecture: Morihiko Hiramatsu
- Okayama Prefecture: Masahiro Ishii
- Okinawa Prefecture: Keiichi Inamine
- Osaka Prefecture: Fusae Ōta
- Saga Prefecture: Isamu Imoto
- Saitama Prefecture: Yoshihiko Tsuchiya
- Shiga Prefecture: Yoshitsugu Kunimatsu
- Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita
- Shizuoka Prefecture: Yoshinobu Ishikawa
- Tochigi Prefecture: Akio Fukuda
- Tokushima Prefecture: Toshio Endo (until 27 April); Tadashi Ōta (starting 28 April)
- Tokyo: Shintarō Ishihara
- Tottori Prefecture: Yoshihiro Katayama
- Toyama Prefecture: Yutaka Nakaoki
- Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshiki Kimura
- Yamagata Prefecture: Kazuo Takahashi
- Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii
- Yamanashi Prefecture: Ken Amano
Events
January
- January 15: UFJ Bank founded via the merger of the Sanwa Bank, Ltd., the Tokai Bank, Ltd. and Toyo Trust and Banking Co., Ltd.
- January 29: Prime Minister Koizumi fires Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka.
February
- February 1: Yoriko Kawaguchi is appointed foreign minister; her previous portfolio of Environment Minister is assumed by Hiroshi Oki.
- February 19: U.S. president George W. Bush addresses a joint session of the Diet.
March
- March 7: Futoshi Matsunaga and Junko Ogata are arrested for confinement of a 17-year-old girl. They are arrested for seven murders later.
April
- April 1: Mizuho Bank founded.
- April 1: Domestic Violence Prevention Act becomes effective.
- April 21 E231 series trains are introduced on the Yamanote Line in Tokyo. Koizumi visits Yasukuni Shrine.
- April 22: The new official residence of the Prime Minister opens next to the old one in Nagatachō, Tokyo.
May
- May 31: The World Cup Korea/Japan 2002 begins.
June
- June 11: Solar eclipse visible throughout Japan.
- June 24: Chiyoda ward in Tokyo bans smoking while walking in public.
- June 30 The World Cup ends. Izumi Garden Tower is completed.
August
- August 30: The last Mazda 626 rolls off the production line after 23 years. Its successor, the 6, enters production on October 1.
September
- September 17: Koizumi visits North Korea; Kim Jong-il admits to the North Korean abduction of Japanese citizens.
October
- October 15: Five Japanese abductees return from North Korea.
November
- November 1 – Renesas Technology, as predecessor of Renesas Electronics was founded.[citation needed]
December
- December 1 Tōhoku Shinkansen extension to Hachinohe Station opens. Saikyo Line and Rinkai Line extensions to Osaki Station open, allowing through service. Iwate Ginga Line and Aoimori Railway begin operations.
The Nobel Prize
- Masatoshi Koshiba: 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics winner.
- Koichi Tanaka: 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner.
Births
- March 11: Yūhi Nishidate, pfofessional baseball pitcher
- March 25: Rio Sasaki, child actress
- April 2: Yuito Obara, actor
- July 14: Kosei Fujita, professional wrestler
- July 19: Sōta Fujii, professional shōgi player
- July 21: Rika Kihira, figure skater
- September 7: Nao Kosaka, idol, model, actress and member of the Japanese girls idol group Hinatazaka46
- December 20: Yuuna Sugiyama, actress and singer
Deaths
- March 8: Sanji Hase, voice actor
- April 10: Yuji Hyakutake, amateur astronomer
- May 13: Morihiro Saito, aikidoka
- May 16: Shoichi Arai, professional wrestling promoter
- May 24: Toshihito Ito, actor
- May 25: Genichi Kawakami, president of Yamaha Corporation from 1950 to 1977
- June 13: Hideo Murata, rōkyoku and enka singer
- June 15: Hideo Murota, actor
- September 12: Mitsuo Ikeda, wrestler
- October 12: Nozomi Momoi, AV idol
- November 15: Sohn Kee-chung, marathon runner
- December 15: Mr. C.B., thoroughbred racehorse
- December 21: Prince Takamado
- December 28: Koreyoshi Kurahara, screenwriter and director