2004 in Japan

yearbox
in?= in Japan
cp=20th Century
c=21st century
cf=22nd century

yp1=2001
yp2=2002
yp3=2003
year=2004
ya1=2005
ya2=2006
ya3=2007
dp3=1970s
dp2=1980s
dp1=1990s
d=2000s
da=0
dn1=2010s
dn2=2020s
dn3=2030s

2004 was the 16th year of Heisei in Japan. It was the population "peak" of Japan—the last year in which the national population increased.

Incumbents

* Emperor: Akihito
* Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi
* Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yasuo Fukuda, Hiroyuki Hosoda
* Governor of Tokyo: Shintaro Ishihara

Events

* January 19: Deployment of Japanese troops to Iraq begins as the first set of ground forces arrive in Samawah.
* February 27: Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara is given the death penalty.
* March 4: Famed Yomiuri Giants manager Shigeo Nagashima is hospitalized.
* March 13: First segment of the Kyushu Shinkansen opens.
* March 17: Tokyo District Court issues an injunction halting the sale of "Bungei Shunju" issues due to a breach of privacy suit by Makiko Tanaka.
* March 24: Chinese activists land in the Senkaku Islands and are arrested by Okinawan police.
* March 30: Nurse Daisuke Mori was sentenced to life imprisonment. [cite web|url=http://www.japantoday.com/jp/shukan/222|title=The case of the killer nurse|publisher=Japan Today|date=2004-04-06|accessdate=2008-03-22]
* April 1: Japan Airlines and Japan Air System merge.
* April 1: New Tokyo International Airport is privatized and renamed Narita International Airport.
* April 1: Teito Rapid Transit Authority becomes Tokyo Metro.
* April 7: Three Japanese civilians taken hostage in Iraq.
* April 8: Economist and graduate school professor Kazuhide Uekusa is arrested for trying to peep under a schoolgirl's skirt on the escalator of JR Shinagawa Station.
* May 10: Winny developer Isamu Kaneko, assistant instructer at Tokyo University, is arrested on charges of contributory copyright infringement.
* May 10: Crown Prince Naruhito denounces palace officials at a press conference, suggesting that Crown Princess Masako is physically and mentally sick.
* May 22: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visits Pyongyang to bring back 5 Japanese youths who were born while their parents were hostages in North Korea.
* June 1: A 12-year-old girl kills her classmate at a Sasebo elementary school.
* July 1: Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in Kii Mountain Range enlisted as a world heritage site.
* July 8: Naha District Court in Okinawa sentences US Marine Major Michael Brown to a suspended one-year prison term on charge of attempted rape against a Filipina.
* July 11: In elections for the Upper House. the LDP suffers a small setback.
* July 21: Koizumi meets Roh Moo-hyun at Jeju Island in South Korea.
* July 30: Chikage Ogi becomes the first female Speaker of the House of Councillors.
* August 9: An obsolete steam pipe at Mihama Nuclear Plant blows up, killing four workers.
* September 3: World Rally Championship held in Japan for the first time.
* September 17: Japanese baseball players announce a weekend strike, the first baseball strike in Japanese history.
* September 27: Koizumi reshuffles his cabinet.
* October 20: Typhoon Tokage makes landfall in Japan.
* October 23: The Chūetsu earthquake strikes Niigata Prefecture, causing widespread damage to the area.
* November 1: Bank of Japan issues new 10,000, 5,000 and 1,000 yen banknotes.
* November 2: Japan's first new professional baseball franchise in 50 years is awarded to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
* December 24: Fukuoka Daiei Hawks are sold to Softbank and become the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

Deaths

* April 21: Den Fujita, president of McDonald's Japan
* November 6: Kensaburo Hara, politician
* December 18: Kikuko, Princess Takamatsu

tatistics

* GDP: ¥504 trillion (+1.4%)
* Nikkei 225: High 12,163.89; low 10,365.40
* Wealthiest person in Japan: Nobutada Saji (net worth 6.9 billion USD)
* Yen: High ¥101.83/USD; low ¥114.80/USD

References