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

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 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

Statistics

 * Wealthiest person in Japan: Masayoshi Son (net worth US$7 billion)