2000 in Japan

← 1999 1998 1997 2000 in Japan → 2001 2002 2003
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2000 List of years in Japan

The following lists events that happened during 2000 in Japan.

Incumbents

• Emperor: Akihito
• Prime Minister: Keizo Obuchi (L–Gunma) until April 5, Yoshiro Mori (L–Ishikawa)
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Mikio Aoki (Councillor, L–Shimane) until July 4, Hidenao Nakagawa (L–Hiroshima) until October 27, Yasuo Fukuda (L–Gunma)
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Shigeru Yamaguchi
• President of the House of Representatives: Sōichirō Itō (L–Miyagi) until June 2, Tamisuke Watanuki (L–Toyama) from July 4
• President of the House of Councillors: Jūrō Saitō (L–Mie) until October 19, Yutaka Inoue (L–Chiba)
• Diet sessions: 147th (regular, January 20 to June 2), 148th (special, July 4 to July 6), 149th (extraordinary, July 28 to August 9), 150th (extraordinary, September 21 to December 1)

Events

January

• January 26: The Southern All-Stars release "Tsunami," the best-selling CD single in Japanese history.

February

• February 6: Osaka gubernatorial election - Osaka's first female governor, Fusae Ohta, is elected.

March

• March 5: Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 2 goes on sale in Japan.
• March 8: Naka-Meguro train disaster
• March 31: Mount Usu in Hokkaido erupts for the first time in 23 years.

April

• April 1: Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University opens in Ōita Prefecture.
• April 2: Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi suffers a massive stroke and is hospitalized.^[1]
• April 4: Obuchi cabinet resigns.
• April 5: Yoshiro Mori is elected Prime Minister.

May

• May 14: Obuchi dies.^[2]
• May 15: Yoshiro Mori makes his first major gaffe, referring to Japan as a "divine nation centering on the Emperor."^[3]

June

• June 25: General election held.

July

• July 8: Volcanic eruption on Miyakejima.
• July 19: Bank of Japan issues the first 2,000-yen banknotes.
• July 21 - 23: G8 Summit held in Nago, Okinawa.^[4]

August

• August 1: New 500-yen coins enter circulation.

September

• September 2: Miyakejima is evacuated as the eruption continues.
• September 19: The Mizuho Financial Group is established, becoming Japan's first bank holding company.

October

• October 1: The DDI Corporation, the KDD Corporation and the ODI Corporation merge to become KDDI.
• October 6: A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits the city of Yonago, Tottori, injuring 182 people.^[5]
• October 27: Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa resigns to take responsibility for a sex scandal he was embroiled in; Yasuo Fukuda is appointed in his place.

November

• November 8: Japanese Red Army leader Fusako Shigenobu is arrested in Osaka.^[6]

Births

• February 21: Yuto Miyazawa, child singer.
• August 5: Maya Bond, child singer-songwriter and drummer

Deaths

• January 22 — Masao Harada, athlete
• February 7 — Shiho Niiyama, voice actress
• March 7 — Masami Yoshida, javelin thrower
• April 7 — Masayuki Minami, volleyball player
• May 10 — Kaneto Shiozawa, voice actor
• May 13 — Jumbo Tsuruta, wrestler
• May 14 — Keizo Obuchi, prime minister
• June 16 — Empress Kōjun
• June 19 — Noboru Takeshita, politician
• June 22 — Osamu Takizawa, actor
• July 23 — Ogura Yuki, painter
• August 12 — Noboru Akiyama, baseball pitcher
• September 22 — Saburō Sakai, naval aviator and flying ace
• October 4 — Masaji Iguro, ski jumper
• October 13 — Masao Fujii, baseball player
• October 25 — Mochitsura Hashimoto, officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy
• October 31 — Kazuki Watanabe, musician
• November 30 - Kiyotaka Katsuta

References