2007 in Japan

Events

January 23 – A rare eel-like creature identified as a frilled shark is discovered in Japan by fishermen.^[2]

March 25 – A tsunami occurs on the northern coast of Japan after an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 in the Sea of Japan. NHK reports that 1 person has died and 40 have been injured.^[3]
March 26 – Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe apologizes for Japan's use of women as sex slaves in frontline brothels during World War II.^[4]

April 1 – Niigata and Hamamatsu become cities designated by government ordinance.
April 8 – Voters go to the polls in Japan for the first phase of the unified local elections including 13 gubernatorial elections, 44 prefectural assembly elections and 4 mayoral races in major cities.^[5]
April 10 – The government of Japan extends economic sanctions against the North Korean government by an additional six months, citing a lack of progress in resolving kidnapping cases of Japanese citizens.^[6]
April 16 – The United States, Japan and India carry out a joint naval exercise in the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to increase strategic cooperation.
April 17 – Iccho Ito, the mayor of Nagasaki, Japan, is shot at least twice outside his re-election campaign headquarters. The assassin, Tetsuya Shiroo, is alleged to be a senior member of a local gang affiliated to the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate.^[7] Itoh was taken to the Nagasaki University Hospital, where he died early the next morning due to loss of blood.
April 22 – In the second phase of the unified local elections, hundreds of municipal elections and two by-elections for the national Diet are held.
April 25 – Japanese police raid the offices of a pro-North Korean group in relation to the alleged kidnapping of two children in the 1970s.^[8]

May 14 – The House of Councillors passes rules for revising the pacifist Constitution of Japan.^[9]
May 28
- Riyo Mori becomes Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico City, the second Japanese to do so after Akiko Kojima.^[10]
- Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Toshikatsu Matsuoka is found dead at his Tokyo home, hours before he was to face questions in the Diet about his expenses.^[11]

June 1 – Archaeologists discover a 2,100-year-old melon in Shiga Prefecture.^[12]
June 21 – Japan changes the name of Iwo Jima to its original name, Iwo To, to reflect the wishes of its original inhabitants.^[13]

July 3 – Japan's Minister of Defense Fumio Kyuma resigns over comments he made about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the weekend.^[14]
July 4 – Japan's first female Minister of Defense, Yuriko Koike, is sworn in a day after the resignation of her predecessor, Fumio Kyuma.^[15]
July 16 – 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake, eleven deaths and at least 1000 injuries were reported, and 342 buildings destroyed.
July 29 – House of Councillors election

August 1 – Norihiko Akagi resigns as Japan's agriculture minister after scandals involving him adversely affected the Liberal Democratic Party's performance in the 2007 Japanese House of Councillors election.^[16]
August 24 – Murder of Rie Isogai
August 25 – The 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics get underway in Osaka, Japan.^[17]
August 31 – Crypton Future Media's first Vocaloid on their Character Vocal Series, Hatsune Miku, is released for Vocaloid 2 software.

September 12 – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announces his resignation.
September 14 – The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully launches SELENE, the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program, on a mission to explore the Moon.^[18]
September 23 – Yasuo Fukuda, a political moderate, is elected by Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party to become the country's next prime minister.^[19]

November 18 – Japan resumes whaling of humpbacks for the first time in 40 years. Greenpeace and other environmentalist groups condemn the decision.^[20]
November 28 – The Chinese Type 051B destroyer Shenzhen visits Tokyo in the first visit of a Chinese warship to Japan since World War II.^[21]

December 19 – A 32-year-old police sergeant shoots himself inside a kōban in front of Tokyo Station.

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Deaths

January 5 – Momofuku Ando, inventor of Instant noodles and Cup Noodles, founder of Nissin Foods
January 8 – Iwao Takamoto, animator
April 18 – Iccho Itoh, mayor of Nagasaki
May 3 – Knock Yokoyama, comedian and politician
May 27 – Izumi Sakai, singer
May 28 – Toshikatsu Matsuoka, politician
June 28 – Kiichi Miyazawa, 78th Prime Minister
July 18 – Kenji Miyamoto, politician^[23]
August 28 – Miyoshi Umeki, actress
September 7 – Kenji Nagai, journalist (b. 1957)^[24]
October 7 – Norifumi Abe, motorcycle road racer
October 12 – Kurokawa Kisho, architect
November 13 – Kazuhisa Inao, baseball player

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Incumbents