2025 in Japan

Events in the year 2025 in Japan.

• Emperor: Naruhito
• Prime Minister: Shigeru Ishiba (Liberal Democratic)

• 2025 in anime
• 2025 in Japanese music
• 2025 in Japanese television
• List of 2025 box office number-one films in Japan
• List of Japanese films of 2025

• January 3 – U.S. President Joe Biden blocks the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel.
• January 10 – Eight students are injured in a hammer attack inside the Tama campus of Hosei University in Machida, Tokyo. A 22-year old South Korean national is arrested.
• January 22 – One person is killed while two others are injured in a knife attack outside Nagano Station.
• January 27 – Koichi Minato and Shuji Kanoh resign as the respective president and chair of Fuji Television amid criticism over the network's handling of a sexual abuse scandal involving television personality Masahiro Nakai.
• January 28 – A sinkhole appears in a road intersection in Yashio, Saitama, swallowing up a truck being driven by an elderly man whose body is recovered on May 2.
• January 29 – Japan suspends funding for the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in response to its publication of a report in 2024 calling for the revision of Japanese imperial succession law to allow women to become empresses regnant.

• February 3 – Former MP Tamotsu Shiiki is sentenced to a five-year suspended prison sentence for raping an underage girl at a karaoke parlor in Tokyo in August 2024.
• February 17 – The Taliban conducts a diplomatic visit to Japan for the first time since taking power in Afghanistan in 2021.
• February 19 – Ryūji Kimura is convicted and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for the attempted assassination of Fumio Kishida in 2023.
• February 21 – The Cabinet approves a bill to allow bears spotted in urban areas to be shot at hunters' discretion following an increase in encounters and attacks on humans.
• February 26 – The Ōfunato wildfire starts in Iwate Prefecture. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency estimates over 80 homes have been destroyed.
• February 27 – The body of a man is found by police on a road within the Ōfunato wildfire evacuation zone.
• February 28 – The Ōfunato wildfire grows to cover over 1,200 ha (3,000 acres), making it the largest wildfire on record in Japan.

• March 3 – Prime Minister Ishiba gives 100,000-yen gift vouchers to 15 LDP lawmakers, sparking criticism. Ishiba denies breaking political laws.
• March 4 –
  • The Ōfunato wildfire reaches 2,600 ha (6,400 acres) with over 2,000 firefighters from 14 prefectures fighting the blaze.
  • Yuji Iwasawa is elected as President of the International Court of Justice.
• March 6 – The Tōhoku Shinkansen suffers a decoupling incident involving the Hayabusa and Komachi trains, causing a week-long suspension of services along the Akita and Yamagata Shinkansen lines.
• March 7 – The Nagoya High Court rules that the non-recognition of same-sex marriage in Japan is unconstitutional and discriminatory.
• March 12 – Police arrest several men in Aichi for alleged sexual assault and child pornography.
• March 14 –
  • NHK Party leader Takashi Tachibana is injured in a stabbing while giving a speech in front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Tokyo. The attacker, who confesses an intention to kill Tachibana, is arrested at the scene.
  • Police arrest Kenji Takano for fatally stabbing YouTuber Airi Sato during a livestream in Tokyo.
• March 17 –
  • A Japanese resident of Belarus is convicted and sentenced by a court in Minsk to seven years' imprisonment for spying for Japanese intelligence.
  • The dismantling of the Number 2 Reactor at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant in Shizuoka Prefecture begins in what is the first operation of its kind in Japan.
• March 23 – Wildfires break out in Okayama and Ehime Prefectures, prompting the evacuation of 3,000 people.
• March 25 –
  • The Tokyo District Court revokes the legal status of the Unification Church as a religious organization in Japan and orders the group to liquidate its assets.
  • The Osaka High Court rules that the non-recognition of same-sex marriage in Japan is unconstitutional and discriminatory.
• March 26 – Professor Masaki Kashiwara of the Institute for Advanced Study of Kyoto University becomes the first person from Japan to be awarded the Abel Prize for his contributions in the field of algebraic analysis.
• March 27 – Former MP Megumi Hirose is sentenced to a suspended 2.5 year prison term for defrauding 3.5 million yen ($23,000) in public funds by claiming salary expenses for a secretary who did no work.
• March 31 – Gyudon chain Sukiya imposes a one-week nationwide closure of its stores for cleanup after revelations of pest contamination in its food items.

• April 5 – Two tour buses collide along the Chūō Expressway in Hachiōji, Tokyo, injuring 47 people.
• April 6 – A medevac helicopter crashes off the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture, killing three of the six people on board.
• April 7 –
  • Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visit Iwo Jima to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, in the first visit to the island by a Japanese monarch since 1994.
  • Shinji Aoyama resigns as executive vice president of Honda following "an allegation of inappropriate conduct".
• April 8 – Actress Ryōko Hirosue is arrested on suspicion of assaulting and injuring a nurse at a hospital in Shimada after being transported there following a vehicular crash on the Shin-Tōmei Expressway in Kakegawa the previous night.
• April 13 – October 13 – Expo 2025 in Osaka.
• April 15 –
  • Governor of Wakayama Prefecture Shūhei Kishimoto dies of septic shock at a hospital in Wakayama after being found unconscious at the governor's residence on the day prior. He is the first prefectural governor to die in office after Takeshi Onaga, then-governor of Okinawa Prefecture, who died in 2018.
  • The Japan Fair Trade Commission issues a cease-and-desist order against Google for forcing manufacturers to preinstall its apps on Android smartphones in violation of domestic anti-monopoly laws.
• April 18 – A magnitude 5.2 earthquake hits Nagano Prefecture, injuring one person.
• April 26 – A collision involving 11 vehicles along the Tohoku Expressway in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, leaves three people dead and 10 others injured.

• May 1 –
  • Seven children are injured in a car-ramming attack in Osaka. The driver is arrested.
  • The Imperial Household Agency announces the dismissal of one of its employees for stealing 3.6 million yen while working as a palace attendant from 2023 to 2025.

• July 27 – 2025 Japanese House of Councillors election

• September 13–21 – The 2025 World Athletics Championships will be held in Tokyo.
• April 6 – 2025 Formula One World Championship is held at 2025 Japanese Grand Prix
• May 17–18 – 2024–25 Formula E World Championship is held at 2025 Tokyo ePrix
• September 28 – 2025 MotoGP World Championship is held at 2025 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix
• 2025 F4 Japanese Championship
• 2025 Super Formula Championship
• 2025 Super Formula Lights
• 2025 Super GT Series
• 2025 in Japanese football
• 2025 J1 League
• 2025 J2 League
• 2025 J3 League
• 2025 Japan Football League
• 2025 Japanese Regional Leagues
• 2025 Japanese Super Cup
• 2025 Emperor's Cup
• 2025 J.League Cup

• January 1:
  • Nagano Hull, professional boxing manager (b. 1925)
  • Setsuko Tamaki, peace activist, former Himeyuri alumni association president (b. 1926)
• January 3:
  • Hiroshi Hara, architect (b. 1936)
  • Yuji Sawa, politician, MP (b. 1948)
• January 4:
  • Riro, sea otter (b. 2007)
  • Kanoko Tsutani-Mabuchi, Olympic diver (b. 1938)
• January 9 - MAYA MAXX, painter (b. 1961)
• January 16 - Shoji Ueda, cinematographer (b. 1938)
• January 21 - Keiichi Suzuki, speed skater (b. 1942)
• January 25 - Ikujiro Nonaka, theorist and academician (b. 1935)
• January 26 - Kazuyoshi Akiyama, conductor (b. 1941)
• January 28 - Takuro Morinaga, economist (b. 1957)
• January 29 - Atomu Shimojō, actor (b. 1946)

• February 2 - Nobumasa Konagai [ja], manga editor (b. 1930)
• February 3 - Yoshio Yoshida, baseball player (b. 1933)
• February 16 - Osamu Miyawaki, businessman, founder of anime figure manufacturer Kaiyodo (b. 1928)
• February 28
  • Osamu Nishimura, professional wrestler (b. 1971)
  • Ayako Sono, novelist (b. 1931)

• March 1 - Monta Mino, television presenter (b. 1944)
• March 11 - Ayumi Ishida, singer and actress (b. 1948)
• March 18 - Yōko Kawanami, voice actress (b. 1957)
• March 25 - Masahiro Shinoda, film director (b. 1931)
• March 26 - Masami Tanabu, politician (b. 1934)

• April 15 - Shūhei Kishimoto, MP (2009–2022) and governor of Wakayama Prefecture (since 2022) (b. 1956)
• April 18
  • Takashi Yamaguchi, actor (b. 1936)
  • Masaaki Koyama, baseball player (b. 1934)
• April 26 - Okagi Hayashi, supercentenarian, oldest living person in Japan (b. 1909)

• Mizuki Itagaki, actor (b. 2000)

Media related to 2025 in Japan at Wikimedia Commons