Japan Timeline

Timeline for August 2019

Society

Deteriorating diplomatic relations with South Korea were among the big Japan news stories in August.

1

Emperor Naruhito attends his first opening ceremony of a Diet session since ascending the throne in May.

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Seven & I Holdings announces that it will terminate its 7pay barcode payment service at the end of September after a series of security breaches.

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2

The government decides to remove South Korea from its “white list” of trading partners that enjoy simplified export controls, in the first case of its kind. The move comes into effect on August 28. On August 12, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy announces reciprocal measures.

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3

The organizers of the Aichi Triennale 2019, an international cultural festival, announce the cancellation of the exhibition After "Freedom of Expression?" in Nagoya. The inclusion of a statue representing wartime “comfort women” drew numerous complaints and threats.

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4

Golfer Shibuno Hinako wins the 2019 Women's British Open in her first appearance in the tournament, finishing 18 under par. She is the first Japanese winner of a major golf championship since Higuchi Hisako won the LPGA Championship in 1977, and the second ever.

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6

Hiroshima marks 74 years since the atomic bombing with a ceremony attended by 50,000 hibakusha and relatives. On August 9, Nagasaki holds a ceremony on the anniversary of its bombing.

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7

Liberal Democratic Party politician Koizumi Shinjirō announces that he will marry television news presenter Takigawa Christel.

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9

Prosecutors decide again that they will not indict 10 Ministry of Finance bureaucrats, including former National Tax Agency Commissioner Sagawa Nobuhisa, over forgery and other allegations related to the Moritomo Gakuen cronyism scandal.

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15

An official ceremony is held in Tokyo on the anniversary of the end of World War II, commemorating those who died in the conflict. Emperor Naruhito gives the same expression of “deep remorse” that his father Emperor Emeritus Akihito did in previous years.

Typhoon Krosa disrupts transport schedules centered on western Japan, while many people are traveling during the Obon period. It also causes a “foehn wind,” bringing high temperatures to the Japan Sea coast. In Niigata Prefecture, the city of Tainai reaches 40.7 degrees, while Itoigawa never drops below 31.3 degrees throughout August 15, which is a national record for the highest ever minimum temperature over one day.

A board warning against heatstroke shows the record temperature of 40.8 degrees in Tainai, Niigata Prefecture, set in August 2018. The written-in temperature of 40.7 degrees for August 15, 2019, is the highest in Japan for 2019 so far. Picture taken at Nakajō Station on the same day. (© Jiji)
A board warning against heatstroke shows the record temperature of 40.8 degrees in Tainai, Niigata Prefecture, set in August 2018. The written-in temperature of 40.7 degrees for August 15, 2019, is the highest in Japan for 2019 so far. Picture taken at Nakajō Station on the same day. (© Jiji)

18

Police arrest Miyazaki Fumio, a driver involved in a road rage case in which he forced another man to stop his car at a rest area in Moriya, Ibaraki Prefecture, and repeatedly hit him.

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20

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Edano Yukio and Democratic Party for the People head Tamaki Yūichirō agree to establish unified caucuses of their opposition parties in each of the two chambers of the Diet.

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22

The South Korean government announces it will scrap its General Security of Military Information Agreement pact for sharing military intelligence with Japan.

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Yokohama announces its bid to host an integrated resort including a casino. Its candidate site is Yamashita Pier and it would plan to open the facility in the second half of the 2020s.

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25

The Japanese and US governments reach a basic agreement on a new bilateral trade deal. Japan will lower its tariffs on beef, pork, and other agricultural products to the same levels as those of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which came into effect at the end of 2018. There is no guarantee that the United States will not add further tariffs to Japanese cars.

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The organizing committee for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games reveals the design for the Paralympic medals, featuring a traditional fan motif.

The obverse (top) and reverse of the 2020 Paralympic medals. (© Jiji)
The obverse (top) and reverse of the 2020 Paralympic medals. (© Jiji)

26

The government’s Personal Information Protection Commission tells job information provider Recruit Career to take corrective steps after it sells companies data on the probability of job-hunters declining offers, without receiving permission.

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27

At a press conference at the end of the Group of Seven summit, Prime Minister Abe Shinzō says he will reshuffle the cabinet and his LDP leadership team in September.

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28

Vice Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare Ueno Hiroshi resigns over allegations of influencing visa procedures for foreign workers.

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The Japan Meteorological Agency issues heavy rain emergency warnings in Fukuoka, Saga, and Nagasaki Prefectures. Northern Kyūshū experiences record downpours, leading to flooding of rivers and inundation of roads, causing three fatalities as of August 29.

Flooding of Kitagata Station (at front), paddy fields, and residential areas in Takeo, Saga Prefecture, on August 28, 2019. (© Jiji)
Flooding of Kitagata Station (at front), paddy fields, and residential areas in Takeo, Saga Prefecture, on August 28, 2019. (© Jiji)

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30

A declaration calling for the resolution of heavy debt burdens owed by African countries is adopted at the end of the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development. The TICAD declaration also makes the first reference to the free and open Indo-Pacific initiative promoted by Japan and the United States.

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(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Shibuno Hinako kisses the Women's British Open trophy in Milton Keynes, Britain, after winning the competition on August 4, 2019. © Jiji.)

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