2002 in Japan

Incumbents

• Emperor: Akihito
• Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yasuo Fukuda
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Shigeru Yamaguchi until October 30, Akira Machida from November 6
• President of the House of Representatives: Tamisuke Watanuki
• President of the House of Councillors: Yutaka Inoue until April 22, Hiroyuki Kurata
• Diet sessions: 154th, 155th

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 Keiji Yamada
• 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 ; Tadashi Ōta
• 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.

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