Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/April/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) 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
 * 1971 - Kamen Rider begins airing on TV Asahi, starring Hiroshi Fujioka, Takeshi Sasaki, Akiji Kobayashi, and Jirō Chiba

Holidays, observances, and anniversaries
 * 1888 - The magazine Nihonjin is first published.