1998 in Japan

Incumbents

• Emperor: Akihito
• Prime Minister: Ryutaro Hashimoto until July 30, Keizo Obuchi
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Kanezō Muraoka until July 30, Hiromu Nonaka
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Shigeru Yamaguchi
• President of the House of Representatives: Sōichirō Itō
• President of the House of Councillors: Jūrō Saitō until July 25 and again from August 4
• Diet sessions: 142nd, 143rd, 144th

  Events

• February 7 – February 22: The 1998 Winter Olympics are held in Nagano.
• March 5 - March 14: The 1998 Winter Paralympics are held in Nagano.
• April 1: Toyota City, Fukuyama City, Kōchi City and Miyazaki City become core cities.
• April 5: The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge linking Shikoku with Honshū and costing about ¥ 500 billion, opens to traffic, becoming the largest suspension bridge in the world.
• May 26: Takashi Imai is inaugurated as the 9th head of the Keidanren.
• June 22: Financial Services Agency established.
• July 5: Japan launches the Nozomi probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as an outer space-exploring nation.
• July 12: Election for the House of Councillors held.
• July 25: Masumi Hayashi poisons a curry pot at a festival in Wakayama, causing the death of two adults and two children.
• September 22 - 23: According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency confirmed report, Typhoon Vicky hit violation storm, landslide, and many cultural heritage site were damage in Wakayama, Nara, Kyoto and Shiga Prefecture, total 19 person were fatalities with 611 person were hurt.
• October 8: Japan-South Korea Joint Declaration of 1998.
• November 13: Free solo climber Alain Robert scales the Shinjuku Center Building and is arrested on its roof.
• November 26: Japan-China Joint Declaration On Building a Partnership of Friendship and Cooperation for Peace and Development.

  Births

• January 5 - Marie Iitoyo, model and actress
• February 8 - Rui Hachimura, basketball player
• March 19 - Sakura Miyawaki, singer
• March 26 - Satoko Miyahara, figure skater
• April 6 - Rina Katsuta, singer
• April 10 - Airi Kinoshita, murder victim
• May 13 - Karen Iwata, singer and voice actress
• May 15 - Rena Nozawa, actress and singer
• May 28 - Riho Sayashi, J-pop singer
• June 14 - Taishi Nakagawa, actor and model
• June 19 - Suzu Hirose, model and actress
• July 9 - Tiger Onitsuka, jazz drummer
• July 16 - Rina Matsuno, singer
• July 17 - Shione Sawada, actress
• July 26 - Maya Sakura, singer
• July 27 - Risa Watanabe, idol and model
• August 5 - Kanon Suzuki, singer
• August 17 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto, professional baseball player
• August 28 - Haruka Fukuhara, actress, model and singer
• October 30 - Meimi Tamura, singer and actress
• November 12 - Yuna Taira, actress
• November 29 - Ayumu Hirano, snowboarder
• December 30 - Akari Uemura, pop singer

  Deaths

• January 9 - Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• January 21 - Yoshifumi Kondō, animator
• January 26 - Shinichi Suzuki, violinist
• January 27 - Tamio Kageyama, novelist
• January 28 - Shotaro Ishinomori, Manga artist, "Father of Henshin heroes."
• February 5 - Takahashi Chikuzan, Tsugaru-jamisen performer and composer
• March 10 - Kenkō Satoshi, Sumo wrestler
• March 13 - Kosho Uchiyama, Sōtō priest
• April 20 - Yoshio Inaba, actor
• May 2 - Matsumoto Hideto, Japanese musician
• May 10 - Nekojiru, manga artist
• May 19 - Sōsuke Uno, Prime Minister
• August 3 - Reizo Koike, breaststroke swimmer
• August 28 - Hirokazu Kobayashi, aikidoka
• September 6 - Akira Kurosawa, screenwriter, producer, and director
• September 27 - Narita Bryan, racehorse
• October 12 - Ineko Sata, communist and feminist author of proletarian literature
• November 1 - Silence Suzuka, racehorse
• November 5 - Momoko Kōchi, actress
• December 1 - Shōji Nakayama, actor
• December 2 - Mikio Oda, athlete
• December 30 - Keisuke Kinoshita, film director