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2012 in Japan

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{{Year in Japan|2012}}

Events in the year 2012 in Japan.

The year 2012 corresponded to the year Heisei 24 (平成24年) in the Japanese calendar. It means the Year of dragon when the 12th day is done it beings the Year of the rat.

Incumbents

=Governors=

Events

File:Tokyo Sky Tree 2012.JPG, which opened in March 2012]]

  • January 1 – A strong (magnitude 7.0), but very deep (370 km) earthquake shakes large parts of Eastern Japan at a JMA-intensity of 4. The quake with an epicenter about 500 km South of mainland Tokyo in the Pacific Ocean near Torishima, Tokyo doesn't cause any reported serious damage or injuries, but can be felt (intensity≥1) from Southern Hokkaidō to Chūgoku.The Japan Times, January 2: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120102a2.html New year begins with strong quake]Japan Meteorological Agency: [http://www.jma.go.jp/jp/quake/20120101143459391-011428.html Magnitude, depth and intensity report 2012/1/1 14.34 JST] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103211320/http://www.jma.go.jp/jp/quake/20120101143459391-011428.html |date=2012-01-03 }}
  • January 4 – Nagakute town in the former Aichi county of Aichi became a city.Nagakute town: [http://www.town.nagakute.aichi.jp/chosei/gyosei/kikaku/shisei.html 市制施行準備（平成24年1月4日「長久手市」誕生に向けて）] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108102435/http://www.town.nagakute.aichi.jp/chosei/gyosei/kikaku/shisei.html |date=2012-01-08 }}
  • January 13 – In a cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Noda replaces five ministers, including two who had been the subject of censure motions by the opposition dominated upper house in December 2011; Katsuya Okada becomes deputy prime minister.The Japan Times, January 14: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120114a1.html New Noda Cabinet on tax push. Okada to be point man in quest to hike the sales levy]The Japan Times, January 14: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120114a4.html Noda hoping latest reshuffle bucks trend of dismal failures. Always a gamble, shakeups in last six years have mostly backfired]
  • late January and early February – At least 50 people die in heavy snow and record low temperatures across the country.The Japan Times, February 2: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120202a7.html 51 deaths laid to blizzards; more snow forecast]The Japan Times, February 4: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120204a1.html Record lows recorded at 38 locations. Well below zero from Kyushu to Hokkaido and more cold looms]
  • February 5 – Kyoto City mayoral election: In the traditional Communist stronghold, incumbent mayor Daisaku Kadokawa won re-election with support from the major parties against Japanese Communist Party-supported Kazuo Nakamura by 54 to 46 percent of the vote.
  • February 10: The central government sets up the reconstruction agency (fukkō-chō) to coordinate the reconstruction efforts after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 with a central budget, replacing the previous reconstruction headquarters (fukkō taisaku honbu) at the Cabinet Secretariat. Tatsuo Hirano becomes reconstruction minister; Masaharu Nakagawa returns to the cabinet to take over some responsibilities from Katsuya Okada and Tatsuo Hirano.{{Cite web|url=https://www.reconstruction.go.jp/|title=復興庁|website=www.reconstruction.go.jp}}The Japan Times, February 10: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120210x3.html 11 months on, Reconstruction Agency makes official debut]
  • February 29: Construction of Tokyo Skytree is completed.[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120229x3.html Tokyo Sky Tree Completed] Japan Times, Wednesday, February 29, 2012
  • March 1 – Low-budget airline Peach launches flights.{{cite news|last1=Kyodo|title=Cut-rate carrier Peach starts flights|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/03/02/business/cut-rate-carrier-peach-starts-flights/#.VXrbYPlViko|access-date=12 June 2015|publisher=The Japan Times|date=March 2, 2012}} {{Citation needed|date=April 2012}}
  • March 11 – Japan commemorates the first anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
  • March 25 – Kumamoto gubernatorial election, incumbent Ikuo Kabashima sought re-election with support from the three largest parties DPJ, LDP and Kōmeitō.Yomiuri Shimbun Kyūshū, December 24, 2011: [http://kyushu.yomiuri.co.jp/local/kumamoto/20111224-OYS1T00410.htm 熊本知事選で民主も現職支持、事実上の与野党相乗り] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508053518/http://kyushu.yomiuri.co.jp/local/kumamoto/20111224-OYS1T00410.htm |date=2012-05-08 }} He easily beat Communist challenger Keisuke Kuboyama. Turnout hit a record low at 38.4 percent.Kumamoto prefectural electoral commission: [http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/123/2350.html Result] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219144217/http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/123/2350.html |date=2012-12-19 }}Yomiuri Shimbun, March 25, 2012: [http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/local/news/20120325-OYT1T00512.htm 熊本知事選、現職・蒲島氏が再選]
  • March 31 – Analogue television broadcasts are terminated in the prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate as Japan completed its digital switchover since it was started last July 24, 2011.
  • April 1 – Kumamoto City, the capital of Kumamoto, became a City designated by government ordinance.
  • April 12 – A car in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto crashed into a pole and hit multiple pedestrians, resulting in eight dead (including the driver) and twelve injured. The accident, which was later attributed to the driver's epilepsy, was the worst traffic accident in Japan since 1996.:ja:京都祇園軽ワゴン車暴走事故
  • May 13 – A hotel fire in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, killed seven and injured three people.:ja:福山ホテル火災
  • May 22 – Tokyo Skytree, which was completed on 29 February 2012, officially opened to the public.
  • June 5 – In a cabinet reshuffle, prime minister Noda replaces five ministers, including two who had been subject to censure by the opposition dominated upper house in April 2012; Satoshi Morimoto becomes the first non-parliamentarian defence minister.The Japan Times, June 5: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120605a1.html Noda replaces censured ministers. Five new members recruited in bid to get LDP to back sales tax hike]
  • June 10 – In the Okinawa prefectural election governor Hirokazu Nakaima's centre-right supporters (LDP, Kōmeitō and independents) fail to win a majority in the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly.The Japan Times, June 11, 2012: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120611a6.html Pro-governor bloc fails to gain majority in Okinawa election]
  • July 8 – Kagoshima gubernatorial election: Incumbent governor Yūichirō Itō supported by the major prefectural parties (LDP, DPJ, Kōmeitō, PNP)Jiji Tsūshin, July 9: [http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=pol_30&k=2012070900001 現職伊藤氏が3選{{=}}反原発の新人破る－鹿児島知事選] beats anti-nuclear activist Yoshitaka Mukohara to win a third term.The Japan Times, July 9: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120709a4.html Kagoshima governor beats antinuclear challenger, secures third term]The Wall Street Journal, July 9: [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303343404577514664019654998 Japan Pro-Nuclear Official Wins Vote]
  • July 21 – Killer Motel horror film is released.{{cite web |title=Killer Motel |url=https://www.videodetective.com/movie/killer-motel-61137 |website=videodetective.com |publisher=Video Detective LLC |access-date=3 July 2023}}
  • July 29 – LDP-Kōmeitō-supported former Cabinet Secretariat and MLIT bureaucrat Shigetarō Yamamoto wins the Yamaguchi gubernatorial election to succeed retiring four-term governor Sekinari Nii. Defeated candidates are energy researcher Tetsunari Iida, ex-Democratic national Representative Tsutomu Takamura and former prefectural bureaucrat Shigeyuki Miwa.The Japan Times, July 31: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120731a5.html Ex-bureaucrat wins Yamaguchi governor race]
  • September 19 – The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA, Genshiryoku Kisei Iinkai, lit. "Atomic Power Regulation Commission") and its subordinate agency (Genshiryoku Kisei-chō) launched as an independent atomic regulator supervised by the Ministry of the Environment. They replace the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of METI, the Japanese Nuclear Safety Commission of the Cabinet Office and departments of other ministries.The Japan Times, September 20: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120920a2.html New atomic regulator launches, vowing no more disasters]
  • September 21 – Yoshihiko Noda is reelected as president of the Democratic Party for a full term, now changed to three years, against challengers Kazuhiro Haraguchi, Hirotaka Akamatsu and Michihiko Kano.The Japan Times, September 21: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120921x1.html DPJ re-elects Noda as chief despite rifts. Leader vows to rebuild feuding party, seek end to nuclear power]
  • September 22 – Kōmeitō: [http://www.komei.or.jp/news/detail/20120824_8940 党代表選挙を公告 9月22日の党大会で選出] Party president Natsuo Yamaguchi of Kōmeitō is re-elected unchallenged as no other candidate has filed a candidacy before the official campaign start on September 14.The Wall Street Journal September 14, 2012 [https://archive.today/20130209133950/http://jp.wsj.com/Japan/Politics/node_512326 公明・山口代表が無投票3選{{=}}井上幹事長ら留任へ]
  • September 26 – Shinzo Abe succeeds Sadakazu Tanigaki as president of the Liberal Democratic Party (official campaigning started on September 14).
  • October 1 – Prime minister Yoshihiko Noda reshuffles his cabinet for the third time;The Japan Times, October 2, 2012: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121002a1.html Noda shakes up Cabinet third time. Latest lineup includes Tanaka for education, Maehara for policy] newly appointed justice minister Keishū Tanaka soon faces calls to resign over a report about an (illegal) political donation from a foreigner and contacts to Yakuza members.The Japan Times, October 19, 2012: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121020a1.html Tanaka's exit likely as scandal outcry grows. Justice minister enters hospital after ducking Diet summons]
  • October 21 – Niigata governor Hirohiko Izumida, supported by the major non-communist parties (DPJ, LDP, LF, Kōmeitō, SDP),msn/Sankei News, October 22, 2012: [http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/121022/elc12102207410000-n1.htm 新潟知事選、泉田氏が3選 マック赤坂氏ら退ける] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022074425/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/121022/elc12102207410000-n1.htm |date=2012-10-22 }} is reelected for a third term against Communist challenger Shijio Hiwatashi and perennial Smile Party candidate Mac Akasaka.The Japan Times, October 22, 2012: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121022b2.html Izumida clinches third term as Niigata governor]
  • October 28 – Gubernatorial elections in Okayama and Toyama and by-election for the House of Representatives in Kagoshima 3rd district: In Toyama, incumbent Takakazu Ishii is reelected for a third term; in Okayama, former Tenmaya department store president Ryūta Ibaragi succeeds retiring Masahiro Ishii; Kazuaki Miyaji wins the by-election to replace Tadahiro Matsushita, further reducing prime minister Noda's coalition majority after a string of defections.The Japan Times, October 30, 2012: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121030a7.html Okayama elects ex-store boss; Toyama picks incumbent]The Japan Times, October 29, 2012: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121029a4.html By-election a setback for Noda. LDP tipped to win race in Kagoshima]
  • November 18 – In the Tochigi gubernatorial election, incumbent Tomikazu Fukuda is reelected for a third term.The Japan Times, November 18, 2012: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20081118a6.html Incumbent Fukuda easily wins Tochigi gubernatorial election]
  • December 2 – The Sasago road tunnel in Yamanashi Prefecture collapses, resulting in 9 fatalities and 2 injuries.:ja:笹子トンネル天井板落下事故
  • December 16 – Liberal Democratic Party and Kōmeitō win a two-thirds majority of seats in the 46th general election of members of the House of Representatives, Naoki Inose wins the Tokyo gubernatorial election, referendum for ten judges on the Supreme Court, by-elections for several prefectural assemblies.

The Nobel Prize

Predicted and scheduled events

= Electoral calendar =

  • December 26 – Designation election of the prime minister in the National DietYomiuri Shimbun, December 17, 2012: [http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/shugiin/2012/news/20121217-OYT1T00374.htm 安倍総裁、26日に首相指名...石破幹事長は続投]

= Administrative mergers and status changes =

  • October 1 – Shiraoka town, South Saitama County (Minami-Saitama-gun), Saitama becomes a city.Kokudo Chiri Kyōkai/Japan Geographic Data Center: [http://www.kokudo.or.jp/marge/ Scheduled municipal mergers]Shiraoka town: [http://www.town.shiraoka.saitama.jp/3285.htm 市制に向けて] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603224543/http://www.town.shiraoka.saitama.jp/3285.htm |date=2012-06-03 }}

Television

{{main|2012 in Japanese television}}

Films

{{main|List of Japanese films of 2012}}

Deaths

=January=

  • January 2: Yoshiro Hayashi, 89, golfer (b. 1922) [http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/golf/news/f-sp-tp1-20120102-884262.html] (Japanese)

=February=

=March=

  • March 29: Yasuaki Uwabe, 48, perpetrator of the Shimonoseki Station massacre.{{cite web|last1=Matsutani|first1=Minoru|title=Three hanged; executions are first since '10|date=30 March 2012 |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/03/30/national/three-hanged-executions-are-first-since-10/#.U-FNyPldXSE|publisher=The Japan Times|access-date=5 August 2014}}

=May=

=July=

=September=

  • September 10: Tadahiro Matsushita, 73, politicianThe Japan Times, September 10: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120910x1.html Japan minister Matsushita found dead at home in possible suicide: police]
  • September 16: Shinichi Nishimiya, 60, diplomat, Ambassador-designate to China (2012).{{cite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-09/16/content_15760874.htm|title=Newly appointed Japanese ambassador to China dies: Kyodo |date=16 September 2012 |publisher=chinadaily.com}}

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Japan year nav}}

{{Asia topic|2012 in}}

Category:Years of the 21st century in Japan

Category:2010s in Japan

Japan