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

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 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