Timeline for November 2024

1

An amendment to the Road Traffic Act comes into effect with new penalties for cycling while using a mobile device or under the influence of alcohol. The use of a mobile phone while cycling may lead to punishment of up to six months in prison or a fine of up to ¥100,000.

3

The Yokohama DeNA BayStars win the Japan Series for the first time in 26 years, despite facing a tough route to the title after finishing third in the Central League. The team secures its third title through a victory against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

4

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launches its fourth H3 rocket, which carries a Kirameki 3 X-band defense communication satellite, from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.

5

An advisory panel to UNESCO recommends the knowledge of how to produce Japan’s traditional alcoholic drinks, such as sake and shōchū, be added to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list. A formal announcement is expected at UNESCO’s committee meeting starting on December 2 in Paraguay.

It emerges that manga artist Umezu Kazuo died on October 28 at the age of 88. He was known for works including Makoto-chan, Hyōryū kyōshitsu (trans. by Sheldon Drzka as The Drifting Classroom), and Watashi wa Shingo (trans. by Jocelyne Allen as My Name is Shingo)

6

Japan’s first interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel begins official operations in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture.

7

Tokyo Electric Power Company announces that it has completed the trial removal of nuclear debris at the number 2 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, extracting a 0.7-gram sample.

A 0.7-gram sample of nuclear debris removed from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and stored in a special container. (Courtesy Tokyo Electric Power Company; © Jiji)

Nissan announces that it will reduce its global vehicle production capacity by 20% and its workforce by 9,000 people.

8

Comedian Matsumoto Hitoshi withdraws a defamation lawsuit initially filed after the publication in Shūkan Bunshun of an article saying that he had sexually assaulted two women.

9

The Chiba Lotte Marines announce that they will post pitcher Sasaki Rōki to Major League Baseball.

10

The Maritime Self-Defense Force minesweeper Ukushima sinks off Fukuoka Prefecture after a fire breaks out, and one of its crew members goes missing.

11

Ishiba Shigeru is reelected as prime minister following the October 27 election and he announces changes to his cabinet.

Ishiba Shigeru (center) and his cabinet in a commemorative photograph taken at the Imperial Palace on November 11, 2024. (© Kyōdō)

12

The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research publishes projections including that single-person households are expected to make up more than 40% of all households in 27 prefectures in 2050. It predicts that households consisting of one senior aged over 65 will make up over 20% of households in 32 prefectures.

Former yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at the age of 82. After retiring, he trained champions Chiyonofuji and Hokutoumi, and was a popular sumō commentator.

13

The Nuclear Regulation Authority officially rejects Japan Atomic Power’s request to restart the number 2 reactor at Tsuruga Nuclear Power Station in Fukui Prefecture, due to the possibility that there is an active fault beneath the reactor building.

14

The number 1 reactor at Kansai Electric Power Company’s Takahama Nuclear Power Station in Fukui Prefecture becomes Japan’s first reactor to operate for 50 years.

15

Princess Yuriko, the great-aunt of Emperor Naruhito, dies at the age of 101. Her main funeral ceremony is held in Tokyo on November 26.

Princess Yuriko in April 2010. (© Jiji)

Prime Minister Ishiba meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru. The two leaders pledge to work toward mutually beneficial strategic ties.

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru (left) and President Xi Jinping meet for the first time in Lima on November 15, 2024. (Courtesy the Cabinet Public Relations Office; © AFP/Jiji)

17

Former Hyōgo Prefecture Governor Saitō Motohiko is reelected after resigning following a unanimous vote of no confidence from the prefectural assembly concerning allegations of abuse of power.

Four candidates enter the race to become the next leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai, with an election due to take place on December 1. The party’s total seats dropped from 43 to 38 in the October House of Representatives election.

19

Tanikawa Shuntarō, renowned as Japan’s leading postwar poet for works including “Ikiru” (“To Live”) and “Nijū oku kōnen no kodoku” (“Two Billion Light Years of Solitude”), dies at the age of 92.

Tanikawa Shuntarō in 2017. (© Jiji)

20

The ruling coalition’s Liberal Democratic Party and Kōmeitō reach an agreement with the opposition Democratic Party for the People to consider the latter’s proposed raising of the tax income threshold from ¥1.03 million and the lowering of gasoline taxes.

Yokohama District Court rejects calls for a halt to nighttime and early morning flights at Atsugi Air Base, Kanagawa Prefecture, which is used jointly by the US military and the SDF, but orders the state to pay ¥5.9 billion in damages to plaintiffs due to the noise pollution.

22

Los Angeles Dodgers star Ohtani Shōhei wins the Most Valuable Player award for the National League, which is his third league MVP designation, becoming the first designated hitter to win this accolade.

23

Prime Minister Ishiba attends a meeting of a group of families of Japanese citizens abducted to North Korea, who call for their return.

26

JAXA halts a ground test of its Epsilon S solid-fuel rocket after a fire breaks out in its second stage at Tanegashima Space Center. This follows an explosion during testing of the Epsilon S in July 2023.

27

Yamada Hideo, the head of the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutors Office, apologizes to Hakamata Iwao following his acquittal after being held on death row for decades.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Yamada Hideo, at left, apologizes to Hakamata Iwao, center right, in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, on November 27, 2024. © Jiji; pool photo.)