Timeline for April 2024

1

The government designates 16 airports and ports in seven prefectures so that they can be used easily by the Self-Defense Forces and the Japan Coast Guard. It allocates ¥37 billion this fiscal year to make necessary improvements.

2

Governor Kawakatsu Heita of Shizuoka Prefecture announces he will resign after making derogatory remarks about farmers and factory workers the previous day during a speech to new prefectural government employees.

3

Okaguchi Kiichi, a judge at the Sendai High Court, is impeached after inappropriate posts on social media regarding a murder case that were hurtful to the victim’s family, becoming the first judge to be impeached for personal expression.

4

The Liberal Democratic Party punishes members involved in a kickbacks scandal. Shionoya Ryū, former head of the LDP General Council, and Seko Hiroshige, former secretary general for the LDP in the House of Councillors, are asked to leave the party.

6

Operations resume on all sections of the Noto Tetsudō railway in Ishikawa Prefecture, which was damaged by the major New Year’s Day earthquake.

8

Ride-sharing services are launched in parts of Tokyo, Kanagawa, Aichi, and Kyoto Prefectures to address a shortage in taxis.

10

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio meets with US President Joe Biden in Washington. The two leaders affirm their alliance and announce plans to strengthen cooperation in defense and other areas.

Prime Minister Kishida (left) with President Biden at a joint press conference at the White House. (© Reuters)

11

Prime Minister Kishida and President Biden meet Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the first summit among leaders of Japan, the United States, and the Philippines. They agree to boost security and economic cooperation to counter Chinese provocations.

US federal prosecutors charge Major League Baseball star Ohtani Shōhei’s former interpreter Mizuhara Ippei with bank fraud for illegally transferring over $16 million from Ohtani’s bank account to pay off gambling debts.

The Japan Sumō Association announces that former yokozuna Akebono died of heart failure earlier this month at the age of 54. Born in Hawaii, he became the first foreign-born yokozuna in 1993.

Akebono performs the dohyō ring-entering ceremony at Meiji Shrine in January 2000. (© Reuters)

13

At an extraordinary meeting, US Steel shareholders approve a $14.1 billion (¥2.2 trillion) acquisition by Nippon Steel, with more than 98% voting in favor.

15

Tokyo Electric Power Company begins fuel loading at the Unit 7 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station in Niigata Prefecture as part of necessary work before a restart.

17

An earthquake causes shaking with a seismic intensity of lower 6 in parts of Ehime and Kōchi Prefectures, which is the first time this intensity has been recorded in Shikoku since the 1996 establishment of the current Japanese seismic intensity scale.

Former Japan soccer international Hasebe Makoto, who served as captain at three successive World Cup tournaments, announces his retirement at the end of this season.

18

The Niigata District Court newly recognizes 26 plaintiffs as sufferers of Niigata Minamata disease and orders the chemical company Resonac to pay ¥100 million in damages, although it rejects a claim against the government.

20

One crew member is killed and seven missing after a crash between two Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopters in a training exercise east of Torishima, in the far southern reaches of the Izu Islands.

22

Ohtani Shōhei hits his 176th MLB home run in a game between his Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, overtaking Matsui Hideki to set a new record for the most home runs by a Japanese-born player in the league.

23

Former Prime Minister Asō Tarō meets former US President Donald Trump in New York, where they affirm the importance of the Japan-US alliance.

Asō Tarō (right) and Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York. (© Jiji; courtesy the Trump campaign)

Ski jumper Kasaya Yukio dies at a Sapporo hospital at the age of 80. He became Japan’s first Winter Olympic gold medal winner in the individual normal hill event at the Sapporo games in 1972.

24

An expert panel releases a report warning that 744 municipalities, or around 40% of the country’s total number, are at risk of disappearing due to the number of young women falling by half or more in these locations between 2020 and 2050.

Heavy industry firm IHI announces that its subsidiary falsified data for 4,361 ship and other engines, or around 80% of its total number of engines produced, over more than 20 years.

25

Four victims of social media scams that used images of celebrities without permission to imply endorsement sue Facebook Japan in the first case seeking to establish the responsibility of the platform operator for such scams.

26

Bridal fashion designer Katsura Yumi dies at the age of 94.

28

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan wins all three House of Representatives by-elections in the first national electoral tests for the LDP since the kickbacks scandal broke. The LDP fielded a candidate in Shimane Prefecture only, following associations with scandals for its former lawmakers in Tokyo and Nagasaki Prefectures. In Shimane, a conservative stronghold, it is the first time for the LDP to lose a seat since the introduction of the electoral system featuring single-seat and proportional-representation constituencies in 1996.

Kamei Akiko of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan at a press conference in Matsue following her victory in the by-election in Shimane’s district 1 on April 28, 2024. (© Jiji)

29

The yen falls dramatically while the Tokyo Stock Exchange is closed for a national holiday, dropping past 160 to the dollar, its lowest level since April 1990. After this it rapidly recovers to the 154 range.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Ohtani Shōhei after hitting his 176th MLB home run, setting a new record for a Japanese-born player. © Mark Edward Harris/Zuma Press Wire/Kyōdō.)