Japan in 2025: Key Events in the Year Ahead

The year 2025 sees an array of major anniversaries in Japan, including 80 years since the end of World War II and 30 years since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Aum Shinrikyō sarin gas attacks in Tokyo.

There are also big events like the Osaka Expo and the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo, while the House of Councillors election due to be held in the summer will be a significant challenge for the Liberal Democratic Party—the party’s own seventieth anniversary this year comes at a time when it is struggling to maintain its power.

Below we look ahead to these and other developments on the Japanese calendar for 2025.

January

1: First anniversary of earthquake on Noto Peninsula.

17: Thirtieth anniversary of Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.

24 (provisional): Start of ordinary Diet session.

February

4: Eightieth anniversary of Yalta Conference during World War II (Soviet Union agreement to enter war against Japan).

March

11: Fourteenth anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.

18–19: Major League Baseball season opens with games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs at the Tokyo Dome, featuring Dodgers stars Ohtani Shōhei and Yamamoto Yoshinobu and Cubs players Suzuki Seiya and Imanaga Shōta.

20: Thirtieth anniversary of Aum Shinrikyō sarin gas attacks on Tokyo subway.

22: Hundredth anniversary of first NHK radio broadcast.

31: End of NTT “dial 177” telephone weather forecast service.

During March: Rise in JR East train fares (average 7.1%)

April

1: Dwango launches online higher-learning institution Zen University.

1: Rise in JR Hokkaidō (average 7.6%) and JR Kyūshū (average 15%) train fares.

13: Osaka Expo 2025 opens.

May

8: Second anniversary of the downgrading of the category for COVID-19, bringing an end to related restrictions.

June

22: Sixtieth anniversary of the normalization of ties between Japan and South Korea.

July

8: Third anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzō.

22: Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly members’ terms expire. Election to be held before this date.

28: Half of House of Councillors’ members terms expire. Election to be held before this date.

August

6: Eightieth anniversary of atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

9: Eightieth anniversary of atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

15: Eightieth anniversary of Japanese surrender and end of World War II.

September

13: Fortieth anniversary of launch of Super Mario Bros.

13–21: World Athletics Championship held in Tokyo.

22: Fortieth anniversary of Plaza Accord.

October

1: One year since Ishiba Shigeru became prime minister.

13: Osaka Expo 2025 closes.

November

1: Hundredth anniversary of completion of Tokyo’s Yamanote Line loop.

15: Seventieth anniversary of formation of Liberal Democratic Party.

December

21: Fiftieth anniversary of first Comiket.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner image © Pixta.)