Japan Timeline for December 2025

An Earthquake Advisory First

2

My Number cards incorporating health insurance information become standard for use at medical institutions and pharmacies, replacing national health insurance cards. People without the new cards may currently use designated “certificates of eligibility” instead.

3

Japan is picked in Pool D for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, alongside France, the United States, and Samoa.

5

Police arrest four suspects thought to have arranged a robbery in Ichikawa, Chiba, in 2024, as one of a string of crimes set up as yami baito, or “dark part-time jobs.”

6

Chinese aircraft twice lock radar on Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets over international waters southeast of Okinawa’s main island. The Japanese government makes a strong protest to China about the dangerous actions.

8

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake off the east coast of Aomori Prefecture causes shaking of upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in the city of Hachinohe. Tsunami waves of up to 70 centimeters are observed. In the early hours of the following day, the Japan Meteorological Agency announces an advisory that there is now a greater risk of a large earthquake occurring in the surrounding area. This is the first time it has issued such an advisory, which lasts until midnight leading into December 16.

An earthquake-damaged road in the town of Tōhoku in Aomori on December 9, 2025. (© Jiji)

10

Hokkaidō Governor Suzuki Naomichi agrees to the restart of the Tomari Nuclear Power Station, completing the approval process for the four municipalities around the plant.

Kitagawa Susumu of Kyoto University, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and Sakaguchi Shimon, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, receive official medals and diplomas at the award ceremony in Stockholm.

Kitagawa Susumu (left) and Sakaguchi Shimon showing their official medals in the early morning of December 11, 2025, after the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm (© Jiji)

12

The kanji 熊 (kuma), meaning “bear,” is chosen as the Kanji of the Year for 2025, announced by the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation based on a popular vote. Bear attacks made headlines through much of the year.

Mori Seihan, Kiyomizudera’s head priest, writes 熊, the Kanji of the Year for 2025, on December 12 at the Kyoto temple. (© Jiji)

15

The Tokyo metropolitan government announces that Ueno Zoo’s twin pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei will return to China in late January 2026, leaving Japan with no more of the animals that are symbols of Sino-Japanese friendship.

16

Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and Ishin no Kai leader Yoshimura Hirofumi agree to postpone discussions on reducing the number of members in the House of Representatives until 2026.

18

Prosecutors call for a life sentence for Yamagami Tetsuya for assassinating former Prime Minister Abe Shinzō with a homemade firearm while the politician was campaigning in Nara in 2022.

Prime Minister Takaichi and Democratic Party for the People leader Tamaki Yūichirō agree to raise the taxable income threshold by ¥180,000, to ¥1,780,000

The Mobile Software Competition Act comes into effect, with the aim of tackling monopolies by giants like Apple and Google in the smartphone market.

19

In a new report, the Central Disaster Management Council projects that a magnitude-7 earthquake under central Tokyo could kill up to 18,000 people.

The Bank of Japan raises its short-term interest rate to 0.75%, which is its highest level since 1995.

20

Prime Minister Takaichi and the leaders of five Central Asian nations (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan) meet at the first such summit in Tokyo. They agree to boost cooperation to strengthen supply chains for key minerals, which are abundant in the region.

Takaichi Sanae (center right) with five Central Asian leaders in Tokyo on December 20, 2025. (© Jiji; pool photo)

22

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launches an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, but it fails to reach orbit due to problems with its second-stage engine.

23

Professional golfer “Jumbo” Ozaki Masashi, who won a record 94 times on the Japan Golf Tour, dies at the age of 78.

Ozaki Masashi in action in 1995. (© Reuters)

26

Liberal Democratic Party politician Suzuki Muneo meets with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko in Moscow. He calls for the resumption of visits to graves by former residents of the Northern Territories, which are occupied by Russia, and an early ceasefire in Ukraine.

30

Fuwa Tetsuzō, the former leader of the Japanese Communist Party, dies at the age of 95. He led a 2004 shift to a more pragmatic stance for the party, including acceptance of the imperial system and the Self-Defense Forces.

The Nikkei index closes the year at 50,339.48, which is its highest year-end price for 35 years, and up over 10,000 points compared with the close of 2024.

Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae (right) and Japan soccer team manager Moriyasu Hajime (left) attend the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s year-end ceremony on December 30, 2025. (© Jiji)

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Ueno Zoo pandas Lei Lei, at left, and Xiao Xiao are set to return to China in late January. © Jiji.)