# 2002 in Japan

Events in the year 2002 in Japan.

## Incumbents

* Emperor: Akihito
* Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi (L–Kanagawa)
* Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yasuo Fukuda (L–Gunma)
* Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Shigeru Yamaguchi until October 30, Akira Machida from November 6
* President of the House of Representatives: Tamisuke Watanuki (L–Toyama)
* President of the House of Councillors: Yutaka Inoue (L–Chiba) until April 22, Hiroyuki Kurata (L–Chiba)
* Diet sessions: 154th (regular, January 21 to July 31), 155th (extraordinary, October 18 to December 13)

### Governors

* Aichi Prefecture: Masaaki Kanda
* Akita Prefecture: Sukeshiro Terata
* Aomori Prefecture: Morio Kimura
* Chiba Prefecture: Akiko Dōmoto
* Ehime Prefecture: Moriyuki Kato
* Fukui Prefecture: Yukio Kurita
* Fukuoka Prefecture: Wataru Asō
* Fukushima Prefecture: Eisaku Satō
* Gifu Prefecture: Taku Kajiwara
* Gunma Prefecture: Hiroyuki Kodera
* Hiroshima Prefecture: Yūzan Fujita
* Hokkaido: Tatsuya Hori
* Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido
* Ibaraki Prefecture: Masaru Hashimoto
* Ishikawa Prefecture: Masanori Tanimoto
* Iwate Prefecture: Hiroya Masuda
* Kagawa Prefecture: Takeki Manabe
* Kagoshima Prefecture: Tatsurō Suga
* Kanagawa Prefecture: Hiroshi Okazaki
* Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto
* Kumamoto Prefecture: Yoshiko Shiotani
* Kyoto Prefecture: Teiichi Aramaki (until 15 April) Keiji Yamada (starting 16 April)
* Mie Prefecture: Masayasu Kitagawa
* Miyagi Prefecture: Shirō Asano
* Miyazaki Prefecture: Suketaka Matsukata
* Nagano Prefecture:
** starting 15 July: Yasuo Tanaka
** 16 July-5 September: Shuichi Abe
** starting 5 September: Yasuo Tanaka
* Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko
* Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto
* Niigata Prefecture: Ikuo Hirayama
* Oita Prefecture: Morihiko Hiramatsu
* Okayama Prefecture: Masahiro Ishii
* Okinawa Prefecture: Keiichi Inamine
* Osaka Prefecture: Fusae Ōta
* Saga Prefecture: Isamu Imoto
* Saitama Prefecture: Yoshihiko Tsuchiya
* Shiga Prefecture: Yoshitsugu Kunimatsu
* Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita
* Shizuoka Prefecture: Yoshinobu Ishikawa
* Tochigi Prefecture: Akio Fukuda
* Tokushima Prefecture: Toshio Endo (until 27 April); Tadashi Ōta (starting 28 April)
* Tokyo: Shintarō Ishihara
* Tottori Prefecture: Yoshihiro Katayama
* Toyama Prefecture: Yutaka Nakaoki
* Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshiki Kimura
* Yamagata Prefecture: Kazuo Takahashi
* Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii
* Yamanashi Prefecture: Ken Amano

## Events
### January

* January 15: UFJ Bank founded via the merger of the Sanwa Bank, Ltd., the Tokai Bank, Ltd. and Toyo Trust and Banking Co., Ltd.
* January 29: Prime Minister Koizumi fires Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka.

### February

* February 1: Yoriko Kawaguchi is appointed foreign minister; her previous portfolio of Environment Minister is assumed by Hiroshi Oki.
* February 19: U.S. president George W. Bush addresses a joint session of the Diet.

### March

* March 7: Futoshi Matsunaga and Junko Ogata are arrested for confinement of a 17-year-old girl. They are arrested for seven murders later.

### April

* April 1: Mizuho Bank founded.
* April 1: Domestic Violence Prevention Act becomes effective.
* April 21
** E231 series trains are introduced on the Yamanote Line in Tokyo.
** Koizumi visits Yasukuni Shrine.
* April 22: The new official residence of the Prime Minister opens next to the old one in Nagatachō, Tokyo.

### May

* May 31: The World Cup Korea/Japan 2002 begins.

### June

* June 11: Solar eclipse visible throughout Japan.
* June 24: Chiyoda ward in Tokyo bans smoking while walking in public.
* June 30
** The World Cup ends.
** Izumi Garden Tower is completed.

### August

* August 30: The last Mazda 626 rolls off the production line after 23 years. Its successor, the 6, enters production on October 1.

### September

* September 17: Koizumi visits North Korea; Kim Jong-il admits to the North Korean abduction of Japanese citizens.

### October

* October 15: Five Japanese abductees return from North Korea.

### November

* November 1 – Renesas Technology, as predecessor of Renesas Electronics was founded.

### December

* December 1
** Tōhoku Shinkansen extension to Hachinohe Station opens.
** Saikyo Line and Rinkai Line extensions to Osaki Station open, allowing through service.
** Iwate Ginga Line and Aoimori Railway begin operations.

## The Nobel Prize

* Masatoshi Koshiba: 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics winner.
* Koichi Tanaka: 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner.

## Births

* March 11: Yūhi Nishidate, pfofessional baseball pitcher
* March 25: Rio Sasaki, child actress
* April 2: Yuito Obara, actor
* July 14: Kosei Fujita, professional wrestler
* July 19: Sōta Fujii, professional shōgi player
* July 21: Rika Kihira, figure skater
* September 7: Nao Kosaka, idol, model, actress and member of the Japanese girls idol group Hinatazaka46
* December 20: Yuuna Sugiyama, actress and singer

## Deaths

* March 8: Sanji Hase, voice actor
* April 10: Yuji Hyakutake, amateur astronomer
* May 13: Morihiro Saito, aikidoka
* May 16: Shoichi Arai, professional wrestling promoter
* May 24: Toshihito Ito, actor
* May 25: Genichi Kawakami, president of Yamaha Corporation from 1950 to 1977
* June 13: Hideo Murata, rōkyoku and enka singer
* June 15: Hideo Murota, actor
* September 12: Mitsuo Ikeda, wrestler
* October 12: Nozomi Momoi, AV idol
* November 15: Sohn Kee-chung, marathon runner
* December 15: Mr. C.B., thoroughbred racehorse
* December 21: Prince Takamado
* December 28: Koreyoshi Kurahara, screenwriter and director