Portal:Japan/Anniversaries/July/July 5

July 5:

Events
 * 1998 - Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.

Births
 * 1900 - Yoshimaro Yamashina (d. 1989), ornithologist, founded the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology
 * 1929 - Chikao Ōtsuka (d. 2015), actor and voice actor
 * 1951 - Keiko Fuji (d. 2013), singer and actress
 * 1968 - Ken Akamatsu, illustrator
 * 1968  - Kenji Itō, composer
 * 1975 - Ai Sugiyama, tennis player
 * 1984 - Yu Yamada, model, actress and singer

Film and television
 * 2005 - Shopping Hero begins airing on TV Asahi, starring Shunsuke Nakamura and Ayako Kawahara
 * 2010 - Asu no Hikari o Tsukame begins airing on Tokai TV, starring Alice Hirose, Mayo Kawasaki, Sachi Funaki, and Yūya Shimizu
 * 2014 - Ao Oni, a horror film starring Anna Iriyama