These are the selected anniversaries for April that appear on the
Japan portal. The "edit" links edit the portal subpages that are displayed as sections here.
April 1
April 1:
Events
-
1867 - Japan participates in its first world expo, the
Paris World Expo. (Traditional
Japanese Date: Twenty-seventh Day of the Second Month, 1867)
-
1880 - The Mitsubishi Foreign Exchange, the precursor to the Bank of Mitsubishi, is established.
-
1889 -
Fukuoka City is established. The population at the time was a mere 50,847 people. The following year a proposal to change the name to Hakata City failed to pass by only one vote.
-
1914 - The
Takarazuka Revue perform for the first time.
-
1929 - The Kotobukiya company, the predecessor to
Suntory, begins selling the first whisky distilled in Japan.
-
1930 - Japan's first underground shopping center is opened in
Ueno.
-
1940 - Income tax withholding begins.
-
1947 - The 6-3 system of education (6 years of compulsory grade school followed by 3 years of compulsory junior high school) is implemented. The goal of the new system was to achieve equality of education for all. A high school system was implemented the following year and a university system was implemented in 1949.
-
1957 - A law against prostitution is implemented.
-
1964 - Restrictions on overseas tourism are lifted.
-
1982 - The government begins minting 500 yen coins.
-
1985 -
NTT and
Japan Tobacco are established.
-
1987 -
Japanese National Railways is split up and privatized.
-
1989 - Japan's first consumption tax is implemented. The tax started at 3% and was raised to 5% in 1997.
- 1989 -
Sendai becomes the eleventh
city designated by government ordinance.
-
1991 - Participation in the national pension scheme becomes compulsory for everyone between the ages of 20 and 60.
-
2001 - An electronic consumer goods recycling law is implemented.
Births
-
1220 -
Emperor Go-Saga (d. 1272)
-
1920 -
Toshiro Mifune (d. 1997), Chinese-Japanese actor and producer
-
1944 -
Isao Kuraishi, actor
-
1971 -
Shinji Nakano, race car driver
-
1976 -
Yuka Yoshida, tennis player
-
1980 -
Yūko Takeuchi, actress
-
1986 -
Shunichi Miyamoto, voice actor and singer
-
1989 -
Yumi Sugimoto, model, actress, and singer
-
1993 -
Keito Okamoto, singer
Film and television
Edit April 1 anniversaries ‧
April 1 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 1 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 2
April 2:
Events
Births
Film and television
-
2007 -
Delicious Gakuin begins airing on
TV Tokyo, starring
Takahiro Nishijima,
Hiroki Aiba,
Ryosuke Miura,
Shinjiro Atae, and
Yuichi Nakamura
- 2007 -
Happy Boys begins airing on TV Tokyo, starring
Kōji Seto,
Kenta Kamakari,
Keisuke Kato,
Gaku Shindo, and Shugo Nagashima
-
2010 -
Daimajin Kanon begins airing on TV Tokyo, starring Yuka Rikuna
Edit April 2 anniversaries ‧
April 2 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 2 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 3
April 3:
Events
-
700 -
Buddhist monk
Dōshō becomes the first person in Japanese history to be
cremated. (Traditional
Japanese Date: Tenth Day of the Third Month, 700)
-
1582 -
Oda Nobunaga defeats Takeda Katsunori, eliminating the Takeda hereditary line. (Traditional
Japanese Date: Eleventh Day of the Third Month, 1582)
-
1687 - The
Edo Shogunate establishes a registration system for pet dogs. (Traditional
Japanese Date: Twenty-first Day of the Second Month, 1687)
-
1825 - A law is passed mandating that foreign ships be driven away and not allowed to land. (Traditional
Japanese Date: Fifteenth Day of the Second Month, 1825)
-
1895 - Japan's first tree planting ceremony is held.
-
1911 - The modern day
Nihonbashi is opened. The famed Tokyo bridge is rebuilt as a stone arch designed to evoke the European renaissance style.
-
1919 - Yamamoto Sanehiko establishes the socialist
Kaizō Magazine (Reform Magazine), which was published until 1955.
Shiga Naoya's A Dark Night's Passing (暗夜行路, Anya Kōro) and
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's Kappa (河童) were both born in the literary section of Kaizō.
-
1928 - Followers of the religion
Tenrikyō are suppressed when the religion is found to be in violation of the law against irreverence against the emperor.
-
1930 - The first automatic train ticket dispensers appear in Tokyo and Ueno stations.
-
1947 - The first Japanese nightingales (young women chosen to be announcers because of their beautiful voices) make their appearance at the
Kōrakuen Stadium.
Births
-
1883 -
Ikki Kita (d. 1937), philosopher and author
-
1887 -
Ōtori Tanigorō (d. 1956), sumo wrestler, the 24th
Yokozuna
- 1887 -
Nishizō Tsukahara (d. 1966), admiral
-
1920 -
Yoshibayama Junnosuke (d. 1977), sumo wrestler, the 43rd
Yokozuna
-
1953 -
Wakanohana Kanji II, sumo wrestler, the 56th
Yokozuna
-
1963 -
Tsuyoshi Sekito, guitarist and songwriter
-
1966 -
Miina Tominaga, voice actress and entertainer
-
1968 -
Tomoaki Kanemoto, baseball player
-
1969 -
Seiichi Tanabe, actor
-
1973 -
Yo Oizumi, television personality and actor
-
1975 -
Yoshinobu Takahashi, baseball player
- 1975 -
Koji Uehara, baseball player
-
1982 -
Kasumi Nakane, model and actress
-
1992 -
Mina Ōba, singer and actress
- 1992 -
Gaku Sano, actor
- 1992 -
Nana Yamada, singer and actress
-
1996 -
Mayo Hibi, tennis player
Deaths
-
1701 -
Keichū (b. 1640), scholar and Buddhist priest
Film and television
Holidays, observances, and anniversaries
-
1888 - The magazine Nihonjin is first published.
Edit April 3 anniversaries ‧
April 3 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 3 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 4
April 4:
Events
Births
-
1884 -
Isoroku Yamamoto (d. 1943), admiral
-
1946 -
Katsuaki Satō, martial artist and coach
-
1957 -
Nobuyoshi Kuwano, singer and trumpet player
-
1974 -
Shōei, actor
-
1990 -
Yūki Mihara, model
-
1991 -
Yui Koike, model and actress
-
1994 -
Shunsuke Nishikawa, actor
- 1994 -
Risako Sugaya, singer and actress
-
1999 -
Miki Nishino, singer, dancer, and actress
Film and television
Edit April 4 anniversaries ‧
April 4 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 4 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 5
April 5:
Events
Births
-
1288 -
Emperor Go-Fushimi (d. 1336)
-
1943 -
Fighting Harada, boxer
-
1946 -
Takuro Yoshida, singer-songwriter
-
1955 -
Akira Toriyama, illustrator
-
1960 -
Hiromi Taniguchi, runner
-
1963 -
Kouichi Oohori, actor
-
1970 -
Miho Hatori, singer-songwriter
-
1971 -
Ayako Nishikawa, television personality, entertainer, comedian, and surgeon
-
1972 -
Yasuhiro Takemoto, animator and director
-
1979 -
Mitsuo Ogasawara, footballer
-
1984 -
Kisho Yano, footballer
-
1988 -
Asumi Nakada, voice actress and model
-
1990 -
Haruma Miura, actor and singer
-
1998 -
Kaito Nakamura, actor and model
-
1999 -
Mio Yūki, actress, model, and entertainer
Edit April 5 anniversaries ‧
April 5 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 5 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 6
April 6:
Events
Births
Film and television
Edit April 6 anniversaries ‧
April 6 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 6 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 7
April 7:
Events
Births
Edit April 7 anniversaries ‧
April 7 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 7 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 8
April 8:
Events
Births
Deaths
Film and television
Edit April 8 anniversaries ‧
April 8 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 8 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 9
April 9:
Events
-
702 - Japan's first legal system of measurement is implemented. (Traditional
Japanese Date: Eighth Day of the Third Month, 702)
-
1890 - A ceremony is held for the opening of the first
Lake Biwa Canal.
-
1935 - Three of
Minobe Tatsukichi's publications setting forth his theory that the emperor is merely a legal figure who exercises power on behalf of the people in whom sovereignty resides (the imperial institution theory) are outlawed. Minobe eventually quits the
House of Peers.
-
1939 - The first group recruitment train, carrying 580 students looking for work, travels from
Akita to
Ueno.
-
1952 - A
Japan Airlines passenger plane crashes into Mt. Mihara on the
Izu Peninsula, killing 37 people, including entertainer Ōtsuji Shirō.
-
1981 - An American nuclear submarine collides with a Japanese cargo ship, the Nisshōmaru.
-
1992 - Singer
Fujiyama Ichirō becomes the ninth person to be awarded the National Honor Award (国民栄誉賞, Kokumin Eiyō-shō).
Births
Film and television
Edit April 9 anniversaries ‧
April 9 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 9 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 10
April 10:
Events
Births
Film and television
Edit April 10 anniversaries ‧
April 10 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 10 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 11
April 11:
Events
Births
Film and television
-
1993 -
Oka no Ue no Himawari begins airing on
Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring
Kaoru Kobayashi,
Yoko Shimada, Michitaka Tsutsui,
Riona Hazuki, and
Atsuko Takahata
-
2004 -
Orange Days begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring
Satoshi Tsumabuki,
Kou Shibasaki,
Hiroki Narimiya,
Miho Shiraishi, and
Eita
-
2013 -
Last Cinderella begins airing on
Fuji Television, starring
Ryoko Shinohara,
Haruma Miura, and
Naohito Fujiki
-
2015 -
Do S Deka begins airing on
Nippon TV, starring
Mikako Tabe and
Tadayoshi Okura
Edit April 11 anniversaries ‧
April 11 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 11 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 12
April 12:
Events
Births
Edit April 12 anniversaries ‧
April 12 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 12 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 13
April 13:
Events
-
1856 - The shogunate abolishes the practice of requiring suspected Christians to step on
fumie at the newly opened ports. (Traditional
Japanese Date: Ninth Day of the Third Month, 1856)
-
1888 - Japan's first coffee shop, the Kahi (coffee) Sakan, opens in
Ueno.
-
1903 - The system of nationally approved primary school textbooks is implemented.
-
1922 - The
Boy Scouts of Japan is formed.
-
1930 - The Japan Gymnastics Association is formed.
-
1941 - A Neutrality pact between Japan and the
Soviet Union is signed in
Moscow.
-
1986 - Hiroaki Nagae and family return to Japan four years and nine months after setting of an around-the-world yachting expedition.
Births
Film and television
Edit April 13 anniversaries ‧
April 13 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 13 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 14
April 14:
Events
-
1603 -
Nihonbashi is completed and quickly becomes the center of Japanese commerce. (Traditional
Japanese Date: Third Day of the Third Month, 1603)
-
1670 - The Hakone reservoir is completed. (Traditional
Japanese Date: Twenty-fifth Day of the Second Month, 1670)
-
1879 - A Japanese pilots a steam train for the first time.
-
1947 - Japan's antimonopoly law is passed.
-
1989 -
Nintendo announces its first
Game Boy.
Births
Films and television
Edit April 14 anniversaries ‧
April 14 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 14 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 15
April 15:
Events
Births
Film and television
Edit April 15 anniversaries ‧
April 15 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 15 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 16
April 16:
Events
Births
-
1874 -
Jōtarō Watanabe (d. 1936), general in the
Imperial Japanese Army and victim of the
February 26 Incident
-
1948 -
Kazuyuki Sogabe (d. 2006), voice actor and guitarist
-
1971 -
Seigo Yamamoto, race car driver
-
1973 -
Hirofumi Nojima, voice actor
- 1973 -
Bonnie Pink, singer-songwriter
-
1986 -
Shinji Okazaki, footballer
-
1988 -
Alisa Durbrow, model, actress, and singer
-
1991 -
Yurie Midori, actress and model
Deaths
Film and television
Holidays, observances, and anniversaries
Edit April 16 anniversaries ‧
April 16 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 16 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 17
April 17:
Events
-
667 -
Prince Naka no Ōe moves the capital from
Asuka to the
Ōtsu Palace. (Traditional
Japanese Date: Nineteenth Day of the Third Month, 667)
-
1870 - A licensing system for
rickshaw's is implemented. (Traditional
Japanese Date: Seventeenth Day of the Third Month, 1870)
-
1895 - The
Treaty of Shimonoseki is signed, whereby
China recognized
Korea's independence and renounced all claims to it, ceded some territory, including
Taiwan, to Japan, and agreed to pay reparations
-
1898 - Western-style artist
Yuzo Saeki is born. Saeki travelled to France in 1923 and was heavily influenced by
Maurice Utrillo. He is best known for his paintings of
Paris. He died at the age of 31.
-
1947 - A public employment assistance office is opened.
- 1947 - The regional and local administrative law is passed, establishing the organization and operation of regional administrative regions and their relationship with the national government.
-
1968 - Tokyo governor Minobe officially recognizes the Korea University in
Kodaira, Tokyo.
Births
Film and television
Edit April 17 anniversaries ‧
April 17 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 17 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 18
April 18:
Events
Births
Film and television
Edit April 18 anniversaries ‧
April 18 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 18 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 19
April 19:
Events
Births
Film and television
Edit April 19 anniversaries ‧
April 19 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 19 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 20
April 20:
Events
Births
Film and television
Edit April 20 anniversaries ‧
April 20 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 20 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 21
April 21:
Events
Births
Edit April 21 anniversaries ‧
April 21 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 21 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 22
April 22:
Events
Births
Edit April 22 anniversaries ‧
April 22 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 22 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 23
April 23:
Events
Births
Deaths
Edit April 23 anniversaries ‧
April 23 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 23 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 24
April 24:
Events
Births
Film and television
Edit April 24 anniversaries ‧
April 24 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 24 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 25
April 25:
Events
-
1185 - 壇ノ浦の合戦で、平家が滅亡。 (Japanese Date: Twenty-fourth Day of the Third Month, 1185)
-
1644 - 大明帝国滅亡 (Japanese Date: Nineteenth Day of the Third Month, 1644)
-
1683 - 八百屋お七が火あぶりの刑となる。歌舞伎などの演目でも知られる八百屋の娘「お七」が放火の罪で鈴ケ森で火あぶりの極刑に処せられる。お七はその時18歳、お七が丙午生まれだったことから、丙午生まれの女子が疎まれるようになった (Japanese Date: Twenty-ninth Day of the Third Month, 1683)
-
1868 - 福沢諭吉が慶応義塾を開校。私塾を芝に移し、年号にちなみ慶應義塾と改称する。 (Japanese Date: Third Day of the Fourth Month, 1868)
-
1888 - 市町村制が公布される。
-
1926 - ドイツ製入場券自動販売機が登場
-
1934 - 吉本興業、東京・新橋演舞場で「特選漫才大会」を開く。
-
1980 - モスクワオリンピック不参加を政府が発表。
- 1980 - 大貫久男さん、東京・銀座で1億円入りの包みを拾う。東京・銀座の道路わきで、トラック運転手がふろしき包みを拾う。中は、1万円札で、1億円。警察に届け、一時は、「犯罪に関する金か!?」と騒がれるが、6ケ月と14日の届け出期間を過ぎても落とし主が現れず11月9日に時効成立。1億円は大貫さんへ。
-
1992 - ロック歌手、尾崎豊急死。泥酔した状態で東京都内の民家で保護されたが、肺水腫で死亡した。「十七歳の地図」で熱狂的な支持を得、若者のカリスマ的存在でもあった。
Births
Edit April 25 anniversaries ‧
April 25 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 25 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 26
April 26:
Events
Births
Deaths
Film and television
Edit April 26 anniversaries ‧
April 26 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 26 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 27
April 27:
Births
Deaths
Edit April 27 anniversaries ‧
April 27 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 27 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 28
April 28:
Events
-
1661 - 伊達堀(神田川)完成 (Japanese Date: Twenty-ninth Day of the Third Month, 1661)
-
1883 - 日本銀行開業。日本で唯一の銀行券を発行できる銀行=日本銀行がこの日開業。
-
1908 - ブラジル移民が出発。日本人最初のブラジル移民780人が、神戸港からブラジルに向け出発した。1960年代の高度成長期に衰退するが、戦前・戦後を通じ、約25万人が移住した。
-
1937 - 初の文化勲章の授与式が行われる(横山大観、幸田露伴ら)。
-
1948 - 夏時刻法が公布される(サマータイム・実施は5月2日から)。5月第1土曜日から、9月第2土曜日まで時計の針を1時間進める「夏時刻法」が公布されたが、睡眠不足になったなどクレームが相次ぎ1952年に廃止。
-
1952 - The
San Francisco Peace Treaty between Japan and part of the Allied Powers comes into force.
-
1964 - Japan formally joins the
OECD.
- 1964 - The male-oriented magazine Heibon Punch publishes its first issue.
Births
Edit April 28 anniversaries ‧
April 28 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 28 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 29
April 29:
Events
Births
Edit April 29 anniversaries ‧
April 29 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 29 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia
April 30
April 30:
Events
Births
Edit April 30 anniversaries ‧
April 30 anniversaries on English Wikipedia ‧
April 30 anniversaries on Japanese Wikipedia