Timeline for February 2025

2

Japan successfully launches its fifth H3 rocket, carrying a Michibiki positioning satellite that will become part of the Japanese version of the US Global Positioning System. It is the fourth consecutive successful H3 launch.

3

SoftBank Group and OpenAI agree to set up a joint venture that will aim to provide AI services to companies in Japan.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (left) shakes hands with SoftBank Chairman and CEO Son Masayoshi in Tokyo on February 3, 2025. (© Jiji)

4

Southeastern Hokkaidō experiences record snowfall, including 1.2 meters of snow in Obihiro over 12 hours until nine in the morning of February 4. Snow across Japan as a whole results in 12 fatalities from February 4 to 12, excluding those caused by traffic accidents.

6

Nissan President Uchida Makoto tells Honda President Mibe Toshihiro that his company will withdraw from talks concerning a possible merger between the two automakers. On February 13, one and a half months after the talks began, Honda and Nissan formally announce that discussions of a possible merger between the two companies have broken down.

The government decides not to appeal against a court ruling rejecting the Ministry of Finance decision not to disclose documents related to the sale of state-owned land to school operator Moritomo Gakuen. It also confirms the existence of the documents, following calls to release them by the wife of a public official who committed suicide after being told to falsify them.

7

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru meets with US President Donald Trump in Washington and pledges to increase Japan’s investment in the United States to $1 trillion. At the press conference that follows, Trump says of Nippon Steel’s plan to acquire US Steel that the Japanese company will invest heavily in the US firm, but will not buy it.

Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru (left) shakes hands with US President Donald Trump at the White House on February 7, 2025. (© Jiji)

10

President Trump signs an executive order for plans to impose 25% tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum, which is set to affect Japanese companies.

11

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces that it has removed a buoy from within Japan’s exclusive economic zone around the Senkaku Islands. Japan has repeatedly called for the removal of the buoy, which China installed in July 2023.

14

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries announces that it will release stockpiled rice to tackle soaring prices of the grain. The rice is set to appear in stores by late March at the earliest.

15

Thai police announce that they have taken a 16-year-old Japanese boy into protective custody who was made to a work for an international fraud gang over the border in Myawaddy, Myanmar. He says that there were up to around 10 other Japanese working in the same place.

Arimoto Akihiro—the father of Arimoto Keiko, who was abducted to North Korea in 1983 when she was 23—dies at the age of 96. Yokota Sakie (89), the mother of Yokota Megumi, is now the only surviving parent of an abductee.

16

Yamanishi Toshikazu sets a new record of 1 hour, 16 minutes, and 10 seconds for the 20-kilometer walk, as he wins the national championship in Kobe.

17

Preliminary figures published by the Cabinet Office show that Japan’s nominal GDP increased by 2.9% to ¥609.3 trillion in 2024, topping ¥600 trillion for the first time. This was the fourth consecutive year of growth.

18

The cabinet approves a new basic energy plan, which targets supplying 40% to 50% of energy through renewables in 2040. It is the first time that renewables have been positioned as the largest source of energy. The plan sets nuclear energy supply at around 20%.

19

The Wakayama District Court sentences Kimura Ryūji to 10 years in prison for throwing an explosive at Prime Minister Kishida Fumio while he was giving a speech in April 2023.

Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yakult Swallows announce that the organization staff member who played team mascot Tsubakurō passed away of illness. Tsubakurō has long been a key presence for the team, marking his thirtieth year of antics on the field in 2024.

Tsubakurō at a January 28 press conference at Meiji Jingū Stadium, Tokyo, with Aoki Norichika, special advisor to the Swallows’ general manager. (© Jiji)

20

Actress Anna Sawai is named among Time magazine’s Women of the Year after a high-profile role in the US drama Shōgun, for which she was recognized with Golden Globe and Emmy awards.

A weather observation station in Sukayu, in the Hakkōda Range of Aomori Prefecture, records accumulated snowfall of 509 centimeters as of 4:00 pm, marking the first time since 2013 that the snowpack has gone above 5 meters. Much of Japan remained locked in a fierce winter system throughout February, bringing record snowfalls to Hokkaidō and the Sea of Japan coast of Honshū.

23

Emperor Naruhito turns 65, greeting crowds who gather to celebrate at the Imperial Palace.

From left, Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako, and Princess Aiko wave to well-wishers at the Imperial Palace on February 23, 2025. (© Kazuki Oishi/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect)

25

The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Kōmeitō reach agreement with opposition party Nippon Ishin no Kai on the fiscal 2025 draft budget, thereby guaranteeing that the proposal will pass. The coalition incorporates Ishin wishes for social welfare reform and measures toward free high school education in a revised budget.

26

A wildfire breaks out in the hills of Ōfunato, Iwate Prefecture. Self-Defense Force helicopters battle the blaze with water drops, but it continues burning, torching 1,200 hectares by February 28 and forcing more than 1,000 local residents to evacuate their residences.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Wildfire spreads in the hills of Ōfunato, Iwate Prefecture, in the evening on February 26, 2025. © Iwate Nippō; via Kyōdō Images.)