2006 in Japan

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Incumbents

Emperor: Akihito
Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi (L–Kanagawa) to September 26 Shinzō Abe (L–Yamaguchi)
Chief Cabinet Secretary: Shinzō Abe (L–Yamaguchi) to September 26 Yasuhisa Shiozaki (L–Ehime)
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Akira Machida to October 15 Nirō Shimada from October 16
President of the House of Representatives: Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa)
President of the House of Councillors: Chikage Ōgi (L–proportional)
Diet sessions: 164th (regular, January 20 to June 18), 165th (extraordinary, September 26 to December 19)

January 16 - Tokyo prosecutors raid Livedoor for suspected violations of securities laws.
January 18 - Following the Livedoor raid, the Tokyo Stock Exchange is overloaded with sell orders and is forced to stop trading.
January 23 - Livedoor CEO Takafumi Horie and three other company officials are arrested and placed in detention.

February 1 - Transit operators in the Kansai region introduce the PiTaPa contactless fare card system.
February 6 - Construction Ministry officials cite Toyoko Inn for multiple violations of building codes and disability access laws.
February 23 - Figure skater Shizuka Arakawa wins a Gold medal in the Ladies' Singles at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

March 3–5 - Asian round of the World Baseball Classic is held at the Tokyo Dome.
March 4 - Softbank announces its intention to purchase the Japanese subsidiary of Vodafone.

April 7 - Ichirō Ozawa is elected president of the Democratic Party of Japan.
April 26 - Takahumi Horie is released from custody.
April 26 - Hidetsugu Aneha is arrested for his role in the Structural Calculation Forgery Problem.

May 1 - The new Corporations Act goes into effect, abolishing yugen kaisha and altering kabushiki kaisha.

June - Minato Ward 2006 elevator accident, a 16 year old student killed in Minato, Tokyo
June 5 - Yoshiaki Murakami, manager of the Murakami Fund, is arrested for insider trading.
June 15 - A cross-party organization of 135 Diet members led by Taku Yamasaki proposes a secular replacement for Yasukuni Shrine.

July 14 - Bank of Japan abolishes the zero interest rate policy.
July 20 - A memorandum from an Imperial Household Agency official is published in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun showing that Emperor Hirohito refused to visit Yasukuni Shrine after Class A war criminals were added to its rolls.

August 9 - Beef imported from the United States goes on sale in Japan for the first time in months following a lengthy ban.
August 14 - A blackout occurs throughout Tokyo, Chiba and Saitama during the morning rush hour after a barge-mounted crane disrupts a high-voltage line.

Nintendo's Wii

August 15 - On the anniversary of the end of World War II, Koizumi makes his final visit to Yasukuni Shrine.
August 16 - A fishing boat is fired upon after crossing into Russian-claimed waters off the east coast of Hokkaidō.

September 22 - Junichiro Koizumi's term as president of the Liberal Democratic Party expires.

Years in Japan (1868–present)

Meiji period (1868–1912)

1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912

Taishō period (1912–1926)

1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926

Shōwa period (1926–1989)

1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

Heisei period (1989–present)

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

2006 in Asia

Sovereign states	Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Burma (Myanmar) Cambodia China Cyprus East Timor (Timor-Leste) Egypt Georgia India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen

States with limited recognition	Abkhazia Nagorno-Karabakh Northern Cyprus Palestine South Ossetia Taiwan

Dependencies and other territories	British Indian Ocean Territory Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Hong Kong Macau