Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/January/January 17

January 17:

Events
 * 1995 - The Great Hanshin earthquake: A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hits near Kobe, Japan, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,434 people.

Births
 * 1952 - Ryuichi Sakamoto, pianist, composer, producer, and actor
 * 1959 - Momoe Yamaguchi, singer and actress
 * 1962 - Jun Azumi, broadcaster and politician, 46th Japanese Minister of Finance
 * 1970 - Masaaki Mochizuki, wrestler
 * 1971 - Youki Kudoh, actress and singer
 * 1972 - Ken Hirai, singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
 * 1973 - Ryō, model, actress, voice actress, and singer
 * 1977 - Dante Carver, American actor
 * 1985 - Riyu Kosaka, singer and actress
 * 1990 - Kaori Matsumura, singer