Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/April/April 5

April 5:

Events
 * 1868 - Saigo Takamori and Katsu Kaishū meet in Edo to discuss the surrender of Edo Castle to the emperor's forces. (Traditional Japanese Date: Thirteenth Day of the Third Month, 1868)
 * 1872 - Construction is begun on a railway between Shinagawa and Yokohama. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-eighth Day of the Second Month, 1872)
 * 1939 - The motion picture law is passed.
 * 1941 - The Japan Cancer Society is formed.
 * 1947 - The first unified local elections are held.
 * 1967 - Okayama University's Professor Kobayashi announces the cause of itai itai disease as cadmium poisoning. It is designated as the first public health illness.
 * 1968 - Japan and the United States sign a treaty returning the Ogasawara islands to Japanese control.
 * 1975 - The twin sister signing group The Peanuts retire from show business.
 * 1982 - The Asakusa International Theater closes after 45 years of performances.
 * 1998 - The Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge is completed joining the main island of Honshū with Awaji Island. The total length of the bridge is 3911 meters and the suspension towers reach a height of 300 meters -- nearly as tall as Tokyo Tower.

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