Timeline for December 2024

1

Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi is elected as leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai. Yoshimura appoints former Foreign Minister Maehara Seiji as coleader of the party.

2

The government stops issuing national health insurance cards as a stage in the switch to the use of My Number cards as identification for receiving healthcare. People without a My Number card will be issued certificates to use in place of the officially recognized cards.

3

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission agrees to increase the 2025 catch quota for tuna weighing 30 kilograms or more by 50% and the quota for smaller tuna by 10%.

4

At its committee meeting in Paraguay, UNESCO adds “traditional knowledge and skills of sake-making with kōji mold in Japan” to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

6

Actress and singer Nakayama Miho dies at the age of 54.

Nakayama Miho in March 2014. (© Jiji)

7

The number 2 reactor at Shimane Nuclear Power Station in Matsue restarts nearly 13 years after it was halted in January 2012, following the Great East Japan Earthquake the previous year. It is the second plant with boiling water reactors—the same design as those at Fukushima Daiichi—to resume operation after the 2011 disaster.

8

Vissel Kobe defeats Shōnan Bellmare 3–0 to secure the J1 soccer title for the second successive year, and a league and Emperor’s Cup double.

10

Nihon Hidankyō (the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations) receives the Nobel Peace Prize at the award ceremony in Oslo.

Nobel Committee Chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes (left) with Nihon Hidankyō members (from left) Tanaka Terumi, Tanaka Shigemitsu, and Mimaki Toshiyuki at the Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo on December 10, 2024. (© Reuters)

12

The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation announces that 金 (kin or kane, meaning “gold” or “money”) has been chosen by voters as the Kanji of the Year for 2024.

Mori Seihan, Kiyomizudera’s head priest, writes 金, the Kanji of the Year for 2024, at the Kyoto temple on December 12, 2024. (© Jiji)

13

The Fukuoka High Court rules that laws banning same-sex marriage are unconstitutional based on Article 13 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to the pursuit of happiness. It is the third high court to rule that the ban is unconstitutional, after those in Sapporo and Tokyo.

14

Two junior high school students are stabbed at a McDonald’s restaurant in Kitakyūshū, with one later dying of her injuries. Fukuoka prefectural police arrest a man on suspicion of attempted murder on December 19.

Defense Minister Nakatani Gen announces that some US Marines stationed in Okinawa have begun relocation to the US territory of Guam. Around 100 members of a planned 4,000 overall make the transfer based on a 2005 agreement between Japan and the United States.

16

MUFG Bank President and CEO Hanzawa Jun’ichi apologizes over an incident in which a bank employee stole customer assets worth over ¥1 billion from safe deposit boxes.

17

The phrase “Japan will minimize its dependency on nuclear power,” initially added after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi, is removed from the latest Strategic Energy Plan published by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry.

19

Watanabe Tsuneo, head of Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, dies of pneumonia at the age of 98. He was also owner of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team.

20

The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Kōmeitō announces that the income tax exemption limit will be raised from ¥1.03 million to ¥1.23 million. Discussions will continue over raising it further to ¥1.78 million, which is the figure the opposition Democratic Party for the People is calling for.

21

Kagiyama Yūma wins the Japan Figure Skating Championships men’s competition for the first time. On December 22, Sakamoto Kaori wins the women’s competition for the fourth successive time, and the fifth time overall.

Sakamoto Kaori performing in the short program at the Japan Figure Skating Championships in Kadoma, Osaka, on December 20, 2024. (© Jiji)

23

Honda and Nissan announce that they have begun discussions on integrating their operations and plan to set up a joint holding company in 2026. As the major shareholder in Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan is considering including it in merger talks. If the three companies merge, they will form the world’s third-largest automaker.

24

Legislative changes on political funding are enacted in the Diet, including the abolition of “political activity funds” received from parties, which could be used by politicians without disclosing what for. A decision on whether to abolish donations from corporations and other bodies is postponed until the end of March 2025.

25

Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi meets with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing. Iwaya presses for the early restart of Chinese imports of Japanese marine products.

27

The government approves a record ¥115.5 trillion budget for fiscal 2025, with increased spending on social security, defense, and servicing the national debt.

30

The Nikkei index closes the year at 39,894.54, up 6,430.37 or 19.2% year on year. It is the first time it has ended the year at a new record high since reaching 38,915.87 in 1989, during Japan’s bubble period.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Tanaka Terumi of Nihon Hidankyō gives a speech at the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo on December 10, 2024. © Jiji.)