Japan in 2022: Key Events in the Year Ahead
Society
Prime Minister Kishida Fumio faces a second electoral test, this time in the upper house, in 2022, and the country will also mark the fiftieth anniversary of the return of Okinawa to Japanese rule.
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COVID-19 remains a factor fueling uncertainty in 2022, and analysts will be watching to see the effects of the omicron variant in Japan. Semiconductor chip shortages and rising prices of energy and resources could also disrupt the economy. Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s handling of the pandemic will come under scrutiny as voters go to the polls for the House of Councillors election, expected to be held in the summer.
2022: Major Japanese and International Events
| January 1 | The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership comes into effect. |
| January | Start of regular Diet session. |
| February 4 | Opening ceremony of Winter Olympics in Beijing (held until February 20). |
| March 4 | Opening ceremony of Winter Paralympics in Beijing (held until March 13). |
| April 1 | Age of adulthood in Japan lowered from 20 to 18. |
| April 4 | Tokyo Stock Exchange reorganizes into three sections: prime, standard, and growth. |
| April 30 | Tsushima Museum opens in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture. |
| May 15 | Fiftieth anniversary of Okinawa returning to Japanese rule. |
| May 28 | Twentieth anniversary of the formation of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) in its present form. |
| July 5 | Fiftieth anniversary of singer Matsutōya Yumi’s debut. |
| July? | House of Councillors election. |
| September 17 | Twentieth anniversary of Prime Minister Koizumi Jun’ichirō’s visit to North Korea and meeting with its leader Kim Jong-il. |
| September 29 | Fiftieth anniversary of normalization of relations between Japan and China. |
| October 4 | First anniversary of Kishida Fumio becoming Japanese prime minister. |
| Autumn | Ghibli Park scheduled to open in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture. |
| November 21 | Opening match of FIFA World Cup in Qatar (held until December 18). |
(Originally published in Japanese on January 2, 2022. Banner photo: Citizens line up outside a bank in Naha to exchange dollars for yen before Okinawa returns to Japanese rule in 1972. © Jiji.)