Timeline for September 2024

1

Ishida Kensuke wins an election in the city of Ōdate, Akita Prefecture, to become Japan’s youngest sitting mayor at the age of 27. (The second youngest, Mayor Takashima Ryōsuke of Ashiya, Hyōgo, is four months older, but was the youngest in history when he was elected at age 26 in 2023.)

2

The Japan Meteorological Agency reports that the country’s temperatures for June to August were 1.76 degrees centigrade higher than average, matching last year as the hottest since statistics were first kept in 1898.

3

The Ministry of the Environment reports the eradication of the mongoose, designated as an alien species, from the island Amami-Ōshima in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Mongooses were found to be harmful to rare native species on the island. (© Pixta)

6

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio meets with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul. The two leaders agree to consider ways of making entry procedures between their countries smoother and sign an agreement to increase cooperation during emergencies in other countries.

Emperor Naruhito’s nephew, Prince Hisahito, turns 18; he is second in line to the throne.

7

Oda Tokito defeats British rival Alfie Hewett to take gold in the wheelchair tennis men’s singles at the Paris Paralympics. This was a second consecutive gold in the event for Japan after Kunieda Shingo won at Tokyo 2020.

Oda Tokito with the men’s singles gold medal. (© Reuters)

8

The Paris Paralympics comes to an end. Japan, which had a record 175 athletes taking part in an overseas Paralympics, finishes with 41 medals overall, including 14 gold, 10 silver, and 17 bronze.

9

The Nagasaki District Court recognizes 15 of 44 plaintiffs as hibakusha, ordering that they should receive official certificates as survivors of the atomic bombing of the city. On September 21, Prime Minister Kishida pledges to extend the same assistance to all survivors. Both the plaintiffs and the defendants—the Nagasaki municipal and prefectural governments—file appeals against the court decision.

10

Tokyo Electric Power Company restarts efforts to remove melted nuclear debris at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. However, issues with cameras attached to the device being used lead to a second stoppage on September 17.

11

JR Freight suspends operations of all of its freight trains after it was found that the company falsified data, in part to conceal the use of excessive pressure in fitting wheels to car axles.

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori dies at the age of 86. While facing corruption allegations in 2000, he fled to Japan, where he had citizenship, and resigned his presidency.

12

Takebe Takanori, a professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Osaka University, and other Japanese and US researchers receive the Ig Nobel Prize in physiology “for discovering that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus.” Japanese representatives have been among the Ig Nobel winners for 18 consecutive years.

15

Shōgun wins 18 Emmy awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Sanada Hiroyuki, and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Anna Sawai.

Anna Sawai with Sanada Hiroyuki at the Emmy awards ceremony. (© Reuters)

18

Japan Coast Guard officials arrest Katsurada Seiichi, the operator of the Kazu 1 tourist boat, which sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaidō in April 2022. Of the 26 passengers, 20 were killed and 6 remain missing.

A 10-year-old Japanese boy is stabbed while walking to a Japanese school in Shenzhen, China. He dies the following day. Chinese authorities arrest the 44-year-old perpetrator, describing the incident as an “accidental occurrence.”

19

A Tōhoku Shinkansen train makes an emergency stop due to decoupling while traveling through Miyagi Prefecture. This is the first such incident on a moving Shinkansen train.

The Hyōgo prefectural assembly passes a unanimous vote of no-confidence against Governor Saitō Motohiko, who is accused of abuse of power. Saitō resigns on September 30, but announces his intention to run in the next gubernatorial election.

Ohtani Shōhei of the Los Angeles Dodgers becomes the first major leaguer ever to have 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in one season.

Ohtani Shōhei hits his fiftieth home run of the season against the Miami Marlins (© USA Today Sports via Reuters Connect)

21

The JMA issues an emergency warning over heavy rain in the north of the Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture, affecting Wajima and other cities impacted by the January 1 earthquake there. Flooding and landslides take place from September 21 to 23, and there are 12 confirmed fatalities as of September 28.

23

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan elects former Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko as its new leader.

Noda Yoshihiko becomes the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. (© Jiji)

The Ministry of Defense reports that a Russian military reconnaissance plane violated Japanese airspace north of Hokkaidō three times. Air Self-Defense Forces fighters scrambled and fired warning signal flares for the first time ever.

26

Hakamata Iwao, who was sentenced to death in 1980 for killing four people in 1966, is acquitted 58 years after the incident in a retrial at the Shizuoka District Court. The court rules that investigators fabricated the evidence.

27

Ishiba Shigeru is elected as the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party, defeating Takaichi Sanae in the runoff after finishing second to her in the first round of voting. On September 30, he announces plans to hold a general election on October 27. He is set to become prime minister and name his cabinet on October 1.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Ishiba Shigeru sits at the Liberal Democratic Party president’s desk on September 27. © Jiji.)