# 2006 in Japan

Events in the year 2006 in Japan.

## Incumbents

* Emperor: Akihito
* Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi (L–Kanagawa) to September 26 Shinzō Abe (L–Yamaguchi)
* Chief Cabinet Secretary: Shinzō Abe (L–Yamaguchi) to September 26 Yasuhisa Shiozaki (L–Ehime)
* Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Akira Machida to October 15 Nirō Shimada from October 16
* President of the House of Representatives: Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa)
* President of the House of Councillors: Chikage Ōgi (L–proportional)
* Diet sessions: 164th (regular, January 20 to June 18), 165th (extraordinary, September 26 to December 19)

### Governors

* Aichi Prefecture: Masaaki Kanda
* Akita Prefecture: Sukeshiro Terata
* Aomori Prefecture: Shingo Mimura
* Chiba Prefecture: Akiko Dōmoto
* Ehime Prefecture: Moriyuki Kato
* Fukui Prefecture: Issei Nishikawa
* Fukuoka Prefecture: Wataru Asō
* Fukushima Prefecture:
** until 28 September: Eisaku Satō
** 28 September-12 November: Akira Kawate
** starting 12 November: Yūhei Satō
* Gifu Prefecture: Hajime Furuta
* Gunma Prefecture: Hiroyuki Kodera
* Hiroshima Prefecture: Yūzan Fujita
* Hokkaido: Harumi Takahashi
* Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido
* Ibaraki Prefecture: Masaru Hashimoto
* Ishikawa Prefecture: Masanori Tanimoto
* Iwate Prefecture: Hiroya Masuda
* Kagawa Prefecture: Takeki Manabe
* Kagoshima Prefecture: Satoshi Mitazono
* Kanagawa Prefecture: Shigefumi Matsuzawa
* Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto
* Kumamoto Prefecture: Yoshiko Shiotani
* Kyoto Prefecture: Keiji Yamada
* Mie Prefecture: Akihiko Noro
* Miyagi Prefecture: Yoshihiro Murai
* Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadahiro Ando (until 5 December); Kayoko Saka (starting 5 December)
* Nagano Prefecture: Yasuo Tanaka (until 1 September); Jin Murai (starting 1 September)
* Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko
* Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto
* Niigata Prefecture: Hirohiko Izumida
* Oita Prefecture: Katsusada Hirose
* Okayama Prefecture: Masahiro Ishii
* Okinawa Prefecture: Keiichi Inamine (until 10 December); Hirokazu Nakaima (starting 10 December)
* Osaka Prefecture: Fusae Ōta
* Saga Prefecture: Yasushi Furukawa
* Saitama Prefecture: Kiyoshi Ueda
* Shiga Prefecture: Yoshitsugu Kunimatsu (until 20 July); Yukiko Kada (starting 20 July)
* Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita
* Shizuoka Prefecture: Yoshinobu Ishikawa
* Tochigi Prefecture: Tomikazu Fukuda
* Tokushima Prefecture: Kamon Iizumi
* Tokyo: Shintarō Ishihara
* Tottori Prefecture: Yoshihiro Katayama
* Toyama Prefecture: Takakazu Ishii
* Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshiki Kimura (until 2 December); Yoshinobu Nisaka (starting 17 December)
* Yamagata Prefecture: Hiroshi Saitō
* Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii
* Yamanashi Prefecture: Takahiko Yamamoto

## Events
### January

* January 1 - The Stories of Ibis, a Japanese science-fiction light novel is published.
* January 16 - Tokyo prosecutors raid Livedoor for suspected violations of securities laws.
* January 18 - Following the Livedoor raid, the Tokyo Stock Exchange is overloaded with sell orders and is forced to stop trading.
* January 23 - Livedoor CEO Takafumi Horie and three other company officials are arrested and placed in detention.

### February

* February 1 - Transit operators in the Kansai region introduce the PiTaPa contactless fare card system.
* February 6 - Construction Ministry officials cite Toyoko Inn for multiple violations of building codes and disability access laws.
* February 23 - Figure skater Shizuka Arakawa wins a gold medal in the Ladies' Singles at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

### March

* March 3–5 - Asian round of the World Baseball Classic is held at the Tokyo Dome.
* March 4 - Softbank announces its intention to purchase the Japanese subsidiary of Vodafone.

### April

* April 7 - Ichirō Ozawa is elected president of the Democratic Party of Japan.
* April 26 - Takahumi Horie is released from custody.
* April 26 - Hidetsugu Aneha is arrested for his role in the Structural Calculation Forgery Problem.

### May

* May 1 - The new Corporations Act goes into effect, abolishing yugen kaisha and altering kabushiki kaisha.
* May 23 – Japanese foreign minister Taro Aso visits Qatar to meet with Chinese and South Korean diplomats.

### June

* June - Minato Ward 2006 elevator accident, a 16-year-old student killed in Minato, Tokyo
* June 5 - Yoshiaki Murakami, manager of the Murakami Fund, is arrested for insider trading.
* June 15 - A cross-party organization of 135 Diet members led by Taku Yamasaki proposes a secular replacement for Yasukuni Shrine.

### July

* July 14 - Bank of Japan abolishes the zero interest rate policy.
* July 20 - A memorandum from an Imperial Household Agency official is published in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun showing that Emperor Hirohito refused to visit Yasukuni Shrine after Class A war criminals were added to its rolls.

### August

* August 9 - Beef imported from the United States goes on sale in Japan for the first time in months following a lengthy ban.
* August 14 - A blackout occurs throughout Tokyo, Chiba and Saitama during the morning rush hour after a barge-mounted crane disrupts a high-voltage line.
* August 15 - On the anniversary of the end of World War II, Koizumi makes his final visit to Yasukuni Shrine.
* August 16 - A fishing boat is fired upon after crossing into Russian-claimed waters off the east coast of Hokkaidō.

### September

* September 22 - Junichiro Koizumi's term as president of the Liberal Democratic Party expires.

### November

* November 7 – According to Fire and Disaster Management Agency official report, F3 class tornado hit in Saroma, eastern Hokkaido, nine persons were human fatalities and 23 persons were hurt.

### December

* December 1 - A ceremony for the completion of nationwide digital terrestrial television coverage was held. All 47 prefectures in Japan are able to receive such broadcasts.
* December 2 - Nintendo's Wii is released in Japan.

## Births

* September 6: Prince Hisahito of Akishino

## Deaths

* January 3: Shiro Azuma, soldier
* April 29: Yoichi Numata, actor
* May 1: Kikuo Takano, poet and mathematician
* May 6: Shigeru Kayano, Ainu activist (b. 1926)
* May 10: Raizo Matsuno, politician
* May 16: Takahiro Tamura, actor
* May 29: Masumi Okada, actor
* June 1: Shokichi Iyanaga, mathematician
* June 13: Hiroyuki Iwaki, conductor and percussionist
* June 17: Hiroaki Shukuzawa, rugby coach
* July 1: Ryutaro Hashimoto, prime minister (born 1937)
* July 7: Reizō Nomoto, voice actor
* August 6: Hirotaka Suzuoki, voice actor and actor
* August 9: Chinatsu Mori, shot putter
* September 13: Shokichi Natsui, judoka
* September 17: Kazuyuki Sogabe, voice actor
* September 25: Tetsurō Tamba, actor
* October 1: Yoshihiro Yonezawa, manga critic and author
* October 29: Reiko Mutō, voice actress
* November 10: Taira Hara, manga artist and tarento
* December 17: Kyōko Kishida, actress
* December 20: Yukio Aoshima, politician
* December 25: Hiroaki Hidaka