Timeline for May 2024

1

Itōchū purchases used car dealership Bigmotor, which was hit by a scandal over fraudulent insurance claims. It sets up a new company called Wecars to take over operations.

2

The pianist Fujiko Hemming’s foundation announces her death on April 21 at the age of 92.

4

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announces that Japan’s child population under 15 years old was 14.0 million as of April 1, 2024, after a drop of 330,000. This was the forty-third year for the total to decline. The child population falls 0.2 percentage points to 11.3% of the total population, which is a record low. The total has nearly halved from 27.2 million in 1975.

Kara Jūrō, a leading light of Japan’s underground theater movement, dies at the age of 84. He was a playwright, director, and actor, and the head of the Jōkyō Gekijō theater company.

6

Boxer Inoue Naoya defends his four super bantamweight world champion belts by defeating Luis Nery of Mexico with a sixth-round technical knockout.

8

Toyota announces a net profit of ¥4.9 trillion for the financial year ended March 2024, which is the first time for a Japanese automaker to post a profit of more than ¥4 trillion.

Minister of the Environment Itō Shintarō apologizes directly to Minamata disease patients after representative speakers’ microphones were switched off after they went over an allotted time of three minutes during a meeting at the ministry.

9

It emerges that the Nagoya Family Court allowed a man to change his surname to the same as his same-sex partner, ruling that they were equivalent to a married couple.

Uno Shōma, who won silver and bronze medals in the men’s singles figure skating events at the Winter Olympics in 2018 and 2022, retires at the age of 26.

Uno Shōma performing in the free skating section of the men’s singles figure skating event at the Beijing Olympics in February 2022. (© Reuters)

10

The Diet enacts a bill establishing a security clearance system for people handling important information related to economic security.

Mayor Wakiyama Shintarō of the town of Genkai in Saga Prefecture announces its application for a survey to become a site for final disposal of high-level radioactive waste. This is the third municipality to apply, after Suttsu and Kamoenai, both in Hokkaidō.

11

Northern lights are seen in Hokkaidō after a series of solar flares.

13

The government announces that 17,000 people aged over 65 died alone at home from January to March.

Sharp announces its withdrawal from the production of liquid crystal display panels for televisions. Its plant in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, will cease production as of the end of September. This means Japan will no longer manufacture any LCD panels for televisions.

16

JR Central says it will suspend tunnel excavation in Mizunami, Gifu Prefecture, for its planned maglev Chūō Shinkansen Line due to declines in the water level of wells and reservoirs. It plans to conduct a geological study.

Toshiba announces it will offer early retirement to 4,000 of its employees, cutting its workforce by up to 6%.

17

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrests Kurokawa Atsuhiko, the head of the Tsubasa no Tō political party, and two others on suspicion of violating the Public Offices Election Act after they heckled speeches and otherwise obstructed other parties’ campaigning in a House of Representatives by-election in the capital in April.

Nemoto Ryōsuke of Tsubasa no Tō (right foreground) disrupts campaigning by Tokyo district 15 by-election candidate Ototake Hirotada (left), Democratic Party for the People leader Tamaki Yūichirō (second from left), and Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko (fourth from left) outside Kameido Station in Tokyo on April 16, 2024. (© Jiji)

The Diet passes an amendment to the Civil Code, making possible shared custody for parents after divorce. It will come into effect in 2026.

20

The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) publishes data showing that major companies agreed to monthly pay rises of 5.58% (¥19,480) as a result of the 2024 spring wage offensive, which was considerably more than the 3.91% (¥13,110) rise in 2023. It is the biggest increase in yen since comparable data became available in 1976.

22

The long-term interest rate on 10-year government bonds rises to 1% on the Tokyo bond market.

26

In a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Seoul, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio calls for China to lift its ban on seafood imports from Japan originally imposed after the release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

Prime Minister Kishida shakes hands with Premier Li in Seoul on May 26, 2024. (© Jiji)

Suzuki Yasutomo is elected as the new governor of Shizuoka Prefecture. The former mayor of Hamamatsu was backed by the opposition in his win over Ōmura Shin’ichi, who was supported by the Liberal Democratic Party.

Komusubi Ōnosato wins the summer Grand Sumō Tournament, which is the only seventh tournament he has competed in. This is the fastest pace to win a tournament title since the establishment of the championship system in 1909.

27

Prime Minister Kishida meets Chinese Premier Li Qiang and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at the Blue House in Seoul. In the first such three-way summit since December 2019, the leaders agree on the need for renewed cooperation and release a joint statement touching on issues including their aging populations and trade matters. They agree to hold regular summits, with the next one to be held in Japan.

President Yoon (center) speaks during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Kishida (left) and Premier Li in Seoul on May 27, 2024. (© Reuters)

A reconnaissance satellite by North Korea ends in failure as it explodes while in flight. The government issues a temporary J-Alert warning for Okinawa.

Renhō of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan announces that she will run in the Tokyo gubernatorial election to be held in July. The CDP and Japanese Communist Party will support her campaign.

Princess Kako makes an official visit to Greece commemorating 125 years of diplomatic ties with Japan.

Princess Kako gives a speech at a commemorative ceremony at the National Gallery in Athens, Greece, on May 27, 2024. (© Reuters) 

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Inoue Naoya, at center, overwhelms his opponent Luis Nery at Tokyo Dome on May 6, 2024. © AFP/Jiji.)