Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/January

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These are the selected anniversaries for January that appear on the Japan portal. The "edit" links edit the portal subpages that are displayed as sections here.

January 1

January 1:

1930 - The Ministry of Rail adopts the metric system for all of Japan's railways.
1946 - Emperor Shōwa renounces his divinity, known in Japanese as the Human Declaration (人間宣言).
1948 - The Nijūbashi Bridge (二重橋), a well known double arched stone bridge located between the front and middle gates of the Imperial Palace, is opened to the public.
1950 - The old practice of advancing one's age every New Year's Day (regardless of one's date of birth) is replaced by the western style of advancing one's age on each anniversary of one's date of birth. Under the old system, someone born on November 1, for example, would turn one on January 1, two months later.
1963 - The well known animated television show Astro Boy begins a four-year 200-episode run.
1973 - Health care for those over 70 years of age is made free of charge.
1991 - Telephone numbers in Tokyo are expanded from 7 digits to 8.

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January 2

January 2:

1905 - Russia surrenders Port Arthur, or Lüshunkou, to the Japanese, during the Russo-Japanese War.
1948 - The Imperial Palace is reopened to the public for New Year's celebrations for the first time in 25 years, drawing 130,000 visitors.
1954 - Sixteen people are crushed to death during New Year's celebrations at the Imperial Palace's Nijūbashi Bridge.
1966 - Japan's first monster show, Ultra Q, begins broadcasting.
1969 - During New Year's celebrations, a man is arrested for hurling a pachinko ball at Emperor Shōwa in resentment for having lost a friend during the war. The next year, the emperor begins making his New Year's appearances from behind protective glass.

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January 3

January 3:

1087 - Retired Emperor Shirakawa initiates cloistered rule. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-sixth Day of the Eleventh Month, 1086)
1721 - The Love Suicides at Amijima (心中天網島, Shinjūten no Amijima) is performed for the first time at the Takemoto Theater. (Traditional Japanese Date: Sixth Day of the Twelfth Month, 1720)
1868 - The Chōshū and Satsuma clans proclaim a restoration of ruling power to the emperor -- the start of the new Meiji government. (Traditional Japanese Date: Ninth Day of the Twelfth Month, 1867)
1938 - Actress Okada Yoshiko and Actor Sugimoto Ryōkichi defect to the Soviet Union.
1951 - The Kōhaku Uta Gassen holds its first broadcast. The Kōhaku Uta Gassen is a singing competition between female celebrity singers, representing the red team, and male celebrity singers, representing the white team. Although it is now a well known television program that is broadcast every New Year's Eve, it actually began as a 50-minute radio program that was first broadcast on January 3, 1951. The television version began on December 31, 1953.
1972 - Japan and the United States reach a trade agreement on textiles.

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January 4

January 4:

1873 - With the adoption of the Western calendar, the five seasonal festivals (五節句, gosekku^?) -- Jinjitsu (人日, Jinjitsu^?) on January 7th, Jōshi (上巳, Jōshi^?) on March 3rd, Tango (端午, Tango^?) on May 5th, Tanabata (七夕, Tanabata^?) on July 7th and Chōyō (重陽, Chōyō^?) on September 9th) -- are abolished.
1877 - Land tax reform is implemented.
1882 - Emperor Meiji issues the Imperial Script for the Military (軍人勅諭, Gunjin Chokuyu^?).
1937 - Two plates containing 58 scales are stolen off of the kinshachi (金鯱, kinshachi^?) (a kind of dolphin fish) affixed to the top of the castle tower of Nagoya Castle. The culprit was apprehended 23 days later.
1946 - The Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, General Douglas MacArthur order the Japanese government to expel all militarists from positions of power. The disbandment of all ultra-nationalist organizations is also ordered.
1948 - International telephone service between the United States and Japan is established.
1953 - NHK Radio broadcasts its first live marathon coverage.
1977 - Poisoned cola is placed in a telephone booth near Shinagawa station, killing two.

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January 5

January 5:

1874 - A road for horse carriages joining Tokyo's Kyōbashi district and Shinbashi district is completed.
1905 - Japan's General Nogi Maresuke and Russia's General Anatoly Stoessel meet at Shǔishīgōng (水師営, Suishiei^?).
1919 - Matsuisu Mako, a Shingeki (western style drama) actress, commits suicide. It is believed that she committed suicide to be with Shimamura Hōgetsu, who died two months earlier. Shimamura was a literary figure who co-founded the Geijutsuza Club with Matsuisu Mako for the purpose of introducing modern western style drama to Japan.
1955 - Cinerama opens in Tokyo and Osaka.
1974 - Japan and China sign a trade agreement.

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January 6

Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/January/January 6

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January 7

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January 8

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January 9

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January 10

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January 11

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January 12

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January 13

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January 14

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January 15

Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/January/January 15

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January 16

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January 17

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January 18

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January 19

Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/January/January 19

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January 20

Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/January/January 20

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January 21

January 21:

1912 - Japan's first skiing competition is held at Takada in Niigata Prefecture.
1913 - The first French private school opens in Tokyo. Later graduates include Sakaguchi Ango, Tanizaki Junichiro and Takehisa Yumeji.
1930 - Japan, the United States, Great Britain, France and Italy hold a meeting in London regarding arms reduction.
1952 - Shiratori Kazuo of the Sapporo Police Department is shot and killed (the Shiratori Incident). Suspicion falls upon the Japanese Communist Party as being involved in the crime.

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January 22

January 22:

646 - Emperor Kōtoku issues the Taika Reform Edicts. (Traditional Japanese Date: First Day of the First Month, 646)
1887 - Tōkyō Denkō begins selling electric lights.
1916 - Japan launches its first domestically manufactured blimp. The blimp left Tokorozawa at 1:30 p.m. and, after landing and refueling at Toyohashi, landed in Osaka at 5:10 p.m. the next day.
1947 - Armed police begin riding the Tōkaidō line to prevent illegal activity.

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January 23

January 23:

829 - Buddhist monk Kūkai establishes a private school known as the Shugei Shuchi In (綜芸種智院). (Traditional Japanese Date: Fifteenth Day of the Twelfth Month, 828)
1337 - Emperor Godaigo leaves Kyoto for Yoshino where he sets up the Southern Court, beginning a 60 year era of rival imperial courts in Japan. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-first Day of the Twelfth Month, 1336)
1890 - The founder of Dōshisha University, Niijima Jō, dies at the age of 48.
1902 - The Aomori Infantry, Eighth Division begin their snow march toward Mt. Hakkoda. 199 soldiers die when a blizzard hits (known as the Snow March to Mt. Hakkoda).
1905 - The last remaining Japanese wolf is shot and killed at Mt. Yoshino.
1949 - The appointment of supreme court justices by referendum is instituted.
1956 - Ishihara Shintaro's Season of the Sun (太陽の季節, Taiyō no Kisetsu) wins the Akutagawa Prize, one of Japan's most prestigious literary awards created in 1935 to commemorate Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
1963 - A blizzard hits northwestern Japan (Hokuriku, Jōetsu and Shin’etsu), killing 178 people and injuring 288.
1984 - The Yuri 2a broadcasting satellite is launched.

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January 24

January 24:

1336 - Ashikaga Takauji defeats Nitta Yoshisada at Hakone. (Traditional Japanese Date: Eleventh Day of the Twelfth Month, 1335)
1946 - The General Headquarters (GHQ) abolishes licensed prostitution.
1969 - The governor of Tokyo, Minobe Ryōkichi announces the end of public sponsored gambling.
1971 - The popular band Group sounds band The Tigers perform their last concert.
1972 - Two hunters discover Yokoi Shōichi, a former lieutenant in the Japanese army who lived in a cave in Guam for 28 years after the end of World War II. Upon his return to Japan on February 2, he proclaimed, "it is with much shame that I return."
1990 - Japan successfully launches an experimental satellite, the Hiten.

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January 25

January 25:

1660 - The first bridge to span the Sumida River in Tokyo, the Ryōgoku Bridge, is built so as to give people a means of escape from fires. (Traditional Japanese Date: Thirteenth Day of the Twelfth Month, 1659)
1683 - Yaoya Oshichi sets fire to her home in the hopes of being able to meet a young priest with whom she fell in love while seeking shelter from a previous fire. The fire destroyed a large section of Edo (present day Tokyo). Oshichi was later caught and punished for her crime by being burned at the stake. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-eighth Day of the Twelfth Month, 1682)
1879 - Japan's popular daily, Asahi Shimbun, begins printing.
1936 - Yokoyama Ryūichi's Edokko Kenchan, a precursor to the popular comic Fukuchan, makes its first appearance in the Asahi Shimbun.
1970 - The director of Godzilla, Tsuburaya Eiji of Toho Studios, dies.
1979 - The 22.23 kilometer Daishimizu tunnel, connecting Minakami-machi, Gunma Prefecture and Yuzawa-machi, Niigata Prefecture, is completed.

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January 26

January 26:

1870 - The first public utility, Denshin, is established. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-fifth Day of the Twelfth Month, 1869)
1882 - Painter Georges Ferdinand Bigot arrives in Japan.
1886 - The Hokkaidō Agency opens, with its main office in Sapporo and branch offices in Hakodate and Nemuro.
1924 - The future Emperor Shōwa marries Princess Kuninomiya Nagako.
1948 - Twelve employees of the Shiina branch of the Teikoku Bank (a precursor to the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation) die from arsenic poisoning. Hirasawa Sadamichi is arrested later that year and sentenced to death, but the sentence was never carried out because of problems with his conviction. He later died in prison of natural causes in May 1987.
1949 - The main hall of Hōryūji burns down.
1979 - Umekawa Akiyoshi, wielding a hunting rifle, kills 2 policemen and 2 employees and takes 40 hostages at the Kitabatake branch of Mitsubishi Bank (in Osaka). He is shot and killed 2 days later.
1985 - Takenaka Masahisa, the boss of the Yamaguchi-gumi (a yakuza group), is shot. He dies the next day.
1992 - Takanohana becomes the youngest sumo wrestler to ever win a championship.

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January 27

January 27:

1868 - The Battle of Toba-Fushimi begins. (Traditional Japanese Date: Third Day of the First Month, 1868)
1885 - The first ship of Japanese immigrants headed for Hawaii leaves Yokohama harbor.
1970 - The first Japan airliner is allowed to fly over Siberia, cutting the flight time to Europe by two hours.
1983 - The Seikan Tunnel, a 53.9 kilometer tunnel connecting the main island of Honshū with Hokkaidō, is completed. It opens in March.
1993 - Miyazawa Rie announces that she is breaking off her engagement to Sumō wrestler Takanohana.
1993 - Akebono becomes the first non-Japanese sumō wrestler to reach the rank of Yokozuna, and Takanohana becomes the youngest wrestler to be promoted to Ōzeki.

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January 28

January 28:

935 - Provincial governor Ki no Tsurayuki begins writing the Tosa Diary, describing his return to Kyōto. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-first Day of the Twelfth Month, 934)
1618 - Rules are established for the Ōoku, the section of Edo Castle that housed the Shōgun's consort and his concubines. (Traditional Japanese Date: Second Day of the First Month, 1618)
1856 - The port of Shimoda is opened per Japan's first treaty of amity with Russia. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-first Day of the Twelfth Month, 1855)
1871 - Japan's first Japanese language daily newspaper, the Yokohama Mainichi Shinbun, is printed in Yokohama. (Traditional Japanese Date: Eighth Day of the Twelfth Month, 1870)
1912 - Lieutenant Nobu Shirase and 27 others reach a point at the South Pole 80 degrees 5' south and 156 degrees 37'. They name it Yamato Sekihara.
1932 - Japanese forces attack Chinese forces at Shanghai in what is known as the First Shanghai Incident.
1946 - The General Headquarters (GHQ) begins censoring movies.

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January 29

January 29:

1879 - Japan enters into an international telecommunications treaty.
1934 - The Japan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. is formed from the merger of Hachiman Steel and several other privately owned companies.
1944 - Editors of Reform magazine and Central Review magazine are arrested in a wartime crackdown against liberal intellectuals known as the Yokohama Incident.
1957 - The Shōwa Base is established at the South Pole.
1961 - Mokkan (inscribed wooden slabs) are excavated at the site of the former capital Heijōkyō in Nara.
1968 - A strike at the faculty of medicine marks the beginning of a period of demonstrations and unrest at Tokyo University.

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January 30

January 30:

1165 - Emperor Goshirakawa holds an opening ceremony for the Sanjūsangendō, a temple built by Taira no Kiyomori. (Traditional Japanese Date: Seventeenth Day of the Twelfth Month, 1164)
1703 - The famed Forty-seven Samurai avenge their leader, Asano Naganori out of loyalty by attacking and killing Kira Kozuke no Suke Yoshinaka, despite being ordered not to. (Traditional Japanese Date: Fourteenth Day of the Twelfth Month, 1702)
1902 - Japan and England sign an alliance in London.
1920 - Hasegawa Machiko, author of the well known comic Sazae-san and Granny Mischief is born.
1951 - The Pacific League's Clippers and the Central League's Pirates are merged into the Pacific League's Seibu Lions.
1957 - William S. Gerard, stationed at a U.S. military base in Gunma Prefecture, shoots and kills a local woman, Sakai Naka, (the Gerard Incident).
1974 - Japan and Korea enter into a treaty establishing their borders in the northern part of the Continental Shelf between the 33rd and 36th parallels.

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January 31

January 31:

1882 - The first life insurance policy beneficiary in Japan collects on a policy.
1947 - The General Headquarters (GHQ) issues an order prohibiting a general strike scheduled for February 1.
1956 - Chiharu Igaya becomes the first Japanese to win an Olympic medal at the 7th Winter Olympics.
1979 - Egawa Suguru joins the Hanshin Tigers and is traded the same day for the Tokyo Giants' Kobayashi Shigeru.
1985 - Social novelist Ishikawa Tatsuzō dies.
1999 - Professional wrestler Giant Baba dies.

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