2016 in Japan

Decades:	1990s; 2000s; 2010s; 2020s; 2030s;
See also:	Other events of 2016; History of Japan • Timeline • Years

The following lists events that happened during 2016 in Japan.

Year: Heisei 28

Incumbents

Emperor: Akihito
Prime Minister: Shinzō Abe (L–Yamaguchi)
Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yoshihide Suga (L–Kanagawa)
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Itsurō Terada
President of the House of Representatives: Tadamori Oshima (L–Aomori)
President of the House of Councillors: Masaaki Yamazaki (L–Fukui) until July 25, Chūichi Date (L-Hokkaidō) from August 1
National Diets: 190th (regular session, January 4–June 1), 191st (extraordinary session, August 1–3), 192nd (extraordinary session, September 26–November 30 [unless extended or cut short by lower house dissolution])

Governors

Aichi Prefecture: Hideaki Omura
Akita Prefecture: Norihisa Satake
Aomori Prefecture: Shingo Mimura
Chiba Prefecture: Kensaku Morita
Ehime Prefecture: Tokihiro Nakamura
Fukui Prefecture: Issei Nishikawa
Fukuoka Prefecture: Hiroshi Ogawa
Fukushima Prefecture: Masao Uchibori
Gifu Prefecture: Hajime Furuta
Gunma Prefecture: Masaaki Osawa
Hiroshima Prefecture: Hidehiko Yuzaki
Hokkaido: Harumi Takahashi
Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido
Ibaraki Prefecture: Masaru Hashimoto
Ishikawa Prefecture: Masanori Tanimoto
Iwate Prefecture: Takuya Tasso
Kagawa Prefecture: Keizō Hamada
Kagoshima Prefecture: Satoshi Mitazono
Kanagawa Prefecture: Yuji Kuroiwa
Kochi Prefecture: Masanao Ozaki
Kumamoto Prefecture: Ikuo Kabashima
Kyoto Prefecture: Keiji Yamada
Mie Prefecture: Eikei Suzuki
Miyagi Prefecture: Yoshihiro Murai
Miyazaki Prefecture: Shunji Kōno
Nagano Prefecture: Shuichi Abe
Nagasaki Prefecture: Hōdō Nakamura
Nara Prefecture: Shōgo Arai
Niigata Prefecture: Hirohiko Izumida (until 27 October); Ryūichi Yoneyama (starting 27 October)
Oita Prefecture: Katsusada Hirose
Okayama Prefecture: Ryuta Ibaragi
Okinawa Prefecture: Takeshi Onaga
Osaka Prefecture: Ichirō Matsui
Saga Prefecture: Yoshinori Yamaguchi
Saitama Prefecture: Kiyoshi Ueda
Shiga Prefecture: Taizō Mikazuki
Shiname Prefecture: Zenbe Mizoguchi
Shizuoka Prefecture: Heita Kawakatsu
Tochigi Prefecture: Tomikazu Fukuda
Tokushima Prefecture: Kamon Iizumi
Tokyo:
- until 21 June: Yōichi Masuzoe
- 21 June-2 August: Tatsumi Ando
- starting 2 August: Yuriko Koike
Tottori Prefecture: Shinji Hirai
Toyama Prefecture: Takakazu Ishii
Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshinobu Nisaka
Yamagata Prefecture: Mieko Yoshimura
Yamaguchi Prefecture: Tsugumasa Muraoka
Yamanashi Prefecture: Hitoshi Gotō

Events

January

Record snowfall and the first Sumo tournament win in a decade for a Japanese rikishi, amid turmoil on the Nikkei 225 and a political scandal involving Abe's cabinet. (See Akira Amari)
Filmmaker and dolphin activist Ric O'Barry was refused entry to the country and was held prior to deportation.

February

February 17 - launch of Hitomi (satellite), ChubuSat-2, ChubuSat-3 and Horyu-4 using a H-IIA 202 space launch vehicle

March

March 11 - Japan commemorates the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent of Fukushima nuclear disaster.
March 25 - Kyoto Tamba Kogen Quasi-National Park is established
March 25 - Asagishi, Hanasaki (Hokkaido), Higashi-Oiwake, Kami-Shirataki, Kanehana, Kyū-Shirataki, Ōshida, Shimo-Shirataki, Tomisato and Washinosu stations are closed
March 26 - Higashi-Himeji, Nishi-kumamoto, Ishinomakiayumino, Odasakae and Maya stations opens
March 26 - Hokkaido Shinkansen starts its service from Shin-Aomori Station to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station
March 26 - Museum of Natural and Environmental History, Shizuoka opens
March 27 – Kumamoto gubernatorial election: Incumbent Ikuo Kabashima reelected for a third term
March 27 - Democratic Party (Japan) is established

April

April 2 - Tsuyama Railroad Educational Museum opens
April 16 – A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Kumamoto prefecture, and kills at least 50 people and 3,129 injured.
April 24 – National Diet, House of Representatives: By-elections in Hokkaido 5th district and in Kyoto 3rd district

May

May 1–2 - G7 Kitakyushu Energy Ministerial Meeting
May 23 - Akatsuki (spacecraft) begins a scientific mission at Venus after a troubled 5-years travel
May 26–27 – The 42nd G7 summit was held on Kashiko Island

June

IUPAC declared the element 113 Ununtrium as Nihonium, first element in the periodic table whose name is derived from Japan.
June 5 – Okinawa assembly election: Governor Onaga's anti-base, left-wing supporters expand their majority

July

July 10 – National Diet, House of Councillors: 24th regular election
July 10 – Kagoshima gubernatorial election
July 23 – Tatsuo Hirano, independent member of the House of Councillors from Iwate, joins the Liberal Democratic Party, giving the party the first majority of its own since the 1989 election defeat
July 26 - A knife attack in Sagamihara kills 19 people and injures up to 50.
July 31 – Tokyo gubernatorial, assembly by-elections

August

Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics
August 21: Russell M. Nelson dedicates the Sapporo Japan Temple, the 151st LDS temple and third LDS temple in Japan.

September

July to September - According to an official report by the Japan National Police Agency, 48 hospitalized patients died after disinfectant liquid, diamitol, was administered to patients at a hospital in Yokohama. On July 7, 2018, a nurse identified as the main suspect was detained and confessed.

October

October 16 – Niigata gubernatorial election
October 21 - A Richer Scale 6.2 earthquake, with aftershocks in Kurayoshi, Tottori Prefecture, according to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, 30 persons were wounded.
October 23 – Okayama gubernatorial election
October 23 – Toyama gubernatorial election
October 23 – National Diet, House of Representatives: By-elections in Fukuoka, 6th district and in Tokyo, 10th district
October 25 - Two explosions in a park in the Japanese city of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, kill at least one person and injure three others. Local media report that a 72-year-old ex-military officer is responsible for the blasts. A fire the same day destroyed the suspect's house. (The Guardian), (BBC)

November

November 20 – Tochigi gubernatorial election

December

5th: Abe declares his historic plan to visit Pearl Harbor

December 18 - A bottoming net fishing boat Daifuku Maru capsized off coast Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, according to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, nine people lost to lives.^{[page needed]}
December 22 - A massive fire in Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture, according to Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency confirmed report, 17 person wounded.

The Nobel Prize

Yoshinori Ohsumi: 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine winner.

Culture

Arts and entertainment

List of 2016 box office number-one films in Japan
March 4 - 39th Japan Academy Prize
March 12 - 10th Seiyu Awards

Arts and entertainment

Sports

October 9 – 2016 Formula One World Championship is held at 2016 Japanese Grand Prix
October 16 – 2016 MotoGP World Championship is held at 2016 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix