2016 in Japan

• Year: Heisei 28

  Incumbents

• Emperor: Akihito
• Prime Minister: Shinzō Abe
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yoshihide Suga
• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Itsurō Terada
• President of the House of Representatives: Tadamori Oshima
• President of the House of Councillors: Masaaki Yamazaki until July 25, Chūichi Date from August 1
• National Diets: 190th, 191st, 192nd

  Events

January

• Record snowfall and the first Sumo tournament win in a decade for a Japanese rikishi, amid turmoil on the Nikkei 225 and a political scandal involving Abe's cabinet.
• Filmmaker and dolphin activist Ric O'Barry was refused entry to the country and was held prior to deportation.

  February

• February 17 - launch of Hitomi, ChubuSat-2, ChubuSat-3 and Horyu-4 using a H-IIA 202 space launch vehicle

  March

• March 11 - Japan commemorates the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent of Fukushima nuclear disaster.
• March 25 - Kyoto Tamba Kogen Quasi-National Park is established
• March 25 - Asagishi, Hanasaki, Higashi-Oiwake, Kami-Shirataki, Kanehana, Kyū-Shirataki, Ōshida, Shimo-Shirataki, Tomisato and Washinosu stations are closed
• March 26 - Higashi-Himeji, Nishi-kumamoto, Ishinomakiayumino, Odasakae and Maya stations opens
• March 26 - Hokkaido Shinkansen starts its service from Shin-Aomori Station to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station
• March 26 - Museum of Natural and Environmental History, Shizuoka opens
• March 27 – Kumamoto gubernatorial election: Incumbent Ikuo Kabashima reelected for a third term
• March 27 - Democratic Party is established

  April

• April 2 - Tsuyama Railroad Educational Museum opens
• April 16 – A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Kumamoto prefecture, and kills at least 50 people and 3,129 injured.
• April 24 – National Diet, House of Representatives: By-elections in Hokkaido 5th district and in Kyoto 3rd district

  May

• May 1–2 - G7 Kitakyushu Energy Ministerial Meeting
• May 23 - Akatsuki begins a scientific mission at Venus after a troubled 5-years travel
• May 26–27 – The 42nd G7 summit was held on Kashiko Island

  June

• IUPAC declared the element 113 Ununtrium as Nihonium, first element in the periodic table whose name is derived from Japan.
• June 5 – Okinawa assembly election: Governor Onaga's anti-base, left-wing supporters expand their majority

  July

• July 10 – National Diet, House of Councillors: 24th regular election
• July 10 – Kagoshima gubernatorial election
• July 23 – Tatsuo Hirano, independent member of the House of Councillors from Iwate, joins the Liberal Democratic Party, giving the party the first majority of its own since the 1989 election defeat
• July 26 - A knife attack in Sagamihara kills 19 people and injures up to 50.
• July 31 – Tokyo gubernatorial, assembly by-elections

  August

• Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics
• August 21: Russell M. Nelson dedicates the Sapporo Japan Temple, the 151st LDS temple and third LDS temple in Japan.

  September

• July to September - According to Japan National Police Agency official confirmed report, 48 hospitalized patients were die, administer disinfectant liquid giving for hospitalized patients in hospital, Yokohama. On 7 July 2018, a nurse of the main criminal detained and confessed, according to JNPA.

  October

• October 16 – Niigata gubernatorial election
• October 21 - A Richer Scale 6.2 earthquake, with aftershocks in Kurayoshi, Tottori Prefecture, according to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, 30 persons were wounded.
• October 23 – Okayama gubernatorial election
• October 23 – Toyama gubernatorial election
• October 23 – National Diet, House of Representatives: By-elections in Fukuoka, 6th district and in Tokyo, 10th district
• October 25 - Two explosions in a park in the Japanese city of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, kill at least one person and injure three others. Local media report that a 72-year-old ex-military officer is responsible for the blasts. A fire the same day destroyed the suspect's house. ,

  November

• November 3 - A 24-year old woman from Qingdao, China, was stabbed by her roommate's ex-boyfriend.
• November 20 – Tochigi gubernatorial election

  December

• December 18 - A bottoming net fishing boat Daifuku Maru capsized off coast Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, according to Japan Coast Guard official confirmed report, nine people lost to lives.
• December 22 - A massive fire in Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture, according to Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency confirmed report, 17 person wounded.

  Culture

Arts and entertainment

• List of 2016 box office number-one films in Japan
• March 4 - 39th Japan Academy Prize
• March 12 - 10th Seiyu Awards

  Sports

• Gamba Osaka U-23 Japanese football team is established
• Japan at the 2016 Summer Olympics
• Japan at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
• Japan at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics
• Japan at the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships
• Japan at the 2016 World Speed Skating Championships
• 2016 J1 League
• 2016 Japan Super Series
• 2016 Tokyo Darts Masters
• Fantastica Mania 2016
• 2016 Asian Cycling Championships
• 2016 Kangaroo Cup
• 2016 Kurume Best Amenity Cup
• 2016 NHK Trophy
• 2016 Shimadzu All Japan Indoor Tennis Championships
• 2016 Tokyo Marathon

• Other

Deaths

January

February

March

April

• April 3, Kōji Wada, rock singer

  May

• May 5, Isao Tomita, composer
• May 17, Yūko Mizutani, voice actress

  June

• June 21, Kunio Hatoyama, politician

  July

• July 31, Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, sumo wrestler

  August

September

October

• October 20, Junko Tabei, mountaineer
• October 23, Mikijirō Hira, actor

  November

December

• December 29, Jinpachi Nezu, actor