Japan

State of Japan
Flag
Location  Asia
Capital  Tokyo
Area  377,915 sq km
Population  126,168,156

"All things come to those that wait"
(Proverb/Quote of the Week)

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January

January 1 Japan became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), an organization commenced to deal with the rules of trade between nations, on 1 January 1995. January 2 January 3 Japanese archaeologists have unearthed the tomb of an ancient beer brewer in the city of Luxor in Egypt that is more than 3,000 years old, according to an official announcement on 3 January 2014. January 4 January 5 Japanese phenomenon Naoya Inoue was named Ring Magazine's 2023 Fighter of the Year on 5 January 2024, becoming the first Japanese boxer to win the prestigious award. Japanese animal enthusiast Mika Komatsu was announced as the Panda Champions for Global Goals by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on 5 January 2017. The aim of the recognition is to build a team of enthusiastic individuals from around the world to achieve the UN sustainable development goals by 2030. January 6 Japan and Australia on 6 January 2022 signed a new agreement to cooperate closely on defence in a latest step to bolster security ties between the two countries. January 7 Japan and Turkey on 7 January 2014 signed an agreement to set up a joint international university of science and technology in Istanbul aiming to nurture experts in the field of nuclear energy. Japanese scientists and broadcasters said on 7 January 2013 they have captured footage of an elusive giant squid roaming the depths of the Pacific Ocean, showing it in its natural habitat for the first time ever. On 7 January 1985 Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched Sakigake, Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft and the first deep space probe launched by any country other than the United States or the Soviet Union. January 8 Okimura Kazuki, director of the Agency for Science and Technology of Japan, was awarded China's International Cooperation Award in Science and Technology on 8 January 2016. January 9 Japanese passport, which allows its holders to visit 190 countries without visa, was ranked as the most powerful in the world according to the Henley Passport Index published on 9 January 2019. January 10 January 11 The Japanese Cabinet approved a fresh stimulus package of more than 20 trillion yen ($224 billion) on 11 January 2013, aiming to lift the economy out of recession and create 600,000 new jobs. January 12 January 13 January 14 January 15 A lunar lander, named Resilience, developed by Japanese space exploration startup ispace Inc. was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 15 January 2025. An international team of astronomers, including researchers from Japan, have spotted a cosmic explosion about 200 times more powerful than a typical supernova, as published on 15 January 2016 in the journal Science. At its peak intensity, the explosion—called ASASSN-15lh—shone with 570 billion times the luminosity of the Sun. The design of the gigantic construction of the Kaohsiung National Stadium in Taiwan, world's first solar-powered stadium, is attributed to Japanese architect Toyo Ito. The construction of the stadium was completed in 2009 and on January 15, 2009 the lighting facilities were tested for the first time. January 16 January 17 Japan and Thailand have agreed to increase cooperation under the existing framework of Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) on the basis of mutual interest. The agreement was reached during discussions between the Prime Ministers of both the countries on 17 January 2013. January 18 Japanese space agency JAXA on 18 January 2018 launched Epsilon-3, the third Epsilon launch vehicle which encapsulates NEC Small radar satellite "ASNARO-2", from the JAXA Uchinoura Space Center. January 19 January 20 Japan became just the fifth country to land a craft named SLIM lander on the moon, after the U.S., Russia, China and India, on 20 January 2024. January 21 January 22 An unmanned Japanese rocket was launched on a mission to deliver cargo to the International Space Station on January 22, 2011. The rocket was launched to carry more than 5 tons of cargo, including food for astronauts. January 23 Japan was ranked as the world's second best country to live, according to a new ranking from U.S. News & World Report published on 23 January 2019. On January 23, 2009 Japan launched a world's first satellite to monitor greenhouse gases around the world in the hope that the data it gathers will help global efforts to combat climate change. January 24 Japan launched the X-band defense communications satellite-2 aboard the H-2A Launch Vehicle No.32 on 24 January 2017 from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s Tanegashima Space Center in Japan's southwestern Kagoshima prefecture. January 25 Japanese scientists Dr. Masato Sagawa was announced as the winner of the 2012 Japan Prize, one of the world's most prestigious awards in science and technology, on 25 January 2012 for developing the world's highest performing Nd-Fe-B type permanent magnet and contributing to energy conservation. January 26 Scientists from Japan and the USA have made a new type of optical element that will improve the performance of telescopes studying radiation from the Big Bang, as revealed on 26 January 2022. Japan's tennis star Naomi Osaka became world number one after beating Petra Kvitova 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 6-4 to win Australian Open Women's Grand Slam crown on 26 January 2019. Japan’s Hakuto was named as one of the winners of the Google Lunar XPrize Milestone Awards in the Mobility category on 26 January 2015. Team Hakuto’s mission is to trail-blaze non-governmental space missions, highlight Japanese robotics technology and inspire people through the dream of reaching the Moon. January 27 Chef Kei Kobayashi became the first Japanese chef ever to win the maximum three Michelin stars in France on 27 January 2020. January 28 Japan on 28 January 2016 unveiled its first homegrown radar-evading stealth aircraft X-2 at a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. factory in central Japan. January 29 Researchers in Japan and the USA have discovered a simple, cheaper, faster and more efficient way to make embryo-like stem cells by exposing blood cells briefly to dilute acid. The technique demonstrated so far only in mice, published in the journal Nature on 29 January 2014, could transform the ability of scientists to develop personalised medicine where a patient’s own healthy skin or blood cells can be used to repair damaged tissues, such as heart disease or brain injury. January 30 Japan won the Asian Cup soccer tournament with a 1-0 victory over Australia in Doha, Qatar on January 30, 2011. Japan became the first team to win the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup four times when the substitute striker Tadanari Lee scored the only goal of the final in second half of extra time. January 31

February

February 1 Japanese ballet dancer Niyama Haruo won the top prize at the 42th Prix de Lausanne, a prestigious international competition for young ballet dancers in Switzerland, on 1 February 2014. February 2 Japan's flagship H3 rocket successfully launched the Michibiki 6 spacecraft into orbit from the Tanegashima Space Center on 2 February 2025, as it aims to have its own precise positioning system. February 3 Japanese astronaut Chiaki Mukai was awarded the Legion of Honour, the highest decoration in France, on 3 February 2015 for her passion for space science. The 1972 Winter Olympics Games were held in Sapporo, Japan from February 3 to 13, 1972. The Sapporo Games were the first to be held outside Europe or the United States. February 4 February 5 Japanese scientists have successfully used mice stem cells to grow kidneys in rat embryos, using a technique that could one day help grow human kidneys for transplant, as revealed in Nature Communications on 5 February 2019. February 6 Japanese scientist along with an international team have identified brain chemicals that allow seals to sleep with half of their brain at a time, according to a study published on 6 February 2013 in the Journal of Neuroscience. The discovery may help millions — including an estimated 40 percent of North Americans — who suffer from insomnia or other sleep disorders. February 7 The 1998 Winter Olympic Games were held in Nagano, Japan from 7 to 22 February 1998. The Olympic Winter Games returned to Japan after 26 years. February 8 A team of Japanese scientists has discovered a new species of polychaete, a type of marine annelid worm, 9-meters deep underwater near Japan’s Syowa Station in Antarctica, providing a good opportunity to study how animals adapt to extreme environments. The team named the new species Flabegraviera fujiae, as revealed on 8 February 2017. February 9 Researchers in Japan have successfully used a tiny drone to pollinate an actual flower, a task usually accomplished by insects and animals, as published in the journal Chem on 9 February 2017. February 10 February 11 February 12 A sea turtle that lost her front legs to a shark attack was fitted with two prosthetic flippers after 27 attempts at the Suma Aqualife Park in Kobe in Japan, as reported on 12 February 2013. February 13 Japanese researchers discovered a sea slug, called Chromodoris reticulata, that is able to detach, re-grow and then re-use its penis. Their findings were published on 13 February 2013 in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters. February 14 Japan and Armenia on 14 February 2018 signed an agreement on investment liberalization, encouragement and protection between the two countries in Yerevan, the capital of the Republic of Armenia. Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan won gold in Men Free Skating at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. A research video presented on 14 February 2013 by Japanese researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) showed Chimpanzees apparently have better short-term memories than humans. February 15 Japan’s Sota Yamamoto won the Men's Free Skating gold at the Lillehammer 2016 Youth Olympic Games. A remote controlled robot that uses dry ice to vacuum up radiation was unveiled by Japanese researchers on 15 February 2013, the latest innovation to help clean-up of nuclear plants. February 16 Japanese archaeologists led by Waseda University Professor Jiro Kondo discovered a previously unknown tomb in the Theban necropolis in Egypt, as revealed on 16 February 2017. The beautifully decorated tomb is thought to date to the Ramesside period (c. 1200 BCE) based on stylistic characteristics. February 17 Japan on 17 February 2024 successfully launched its next-generation H3 rocket into orbit carrying a dummy satellite and two functioning microsatellites. Japanese speed skater Takagi Miho won gold in the women's 1000m at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic with an Olympic record time of 1:13.19. Japan on 17 February 2016 successfully launched a new generation X-ray astronomy satellite ASTRO-H, also named as Hitomi, into orbit aboard the H-2A Launch Vehicle from the Tahegashima Space Center. February 18 Researchers from Japan and Malaysia have found dinosaur fossil teeth in the rural interiors of Pahang — the first known discovery of dinosaur remains in Malaysia. The discovery was announced on 18 February 2014. Busicom LE-120A "HANDY-LE" the first truly pocket-sized calculator made in Japan by Nippon Calculating Machine Corporation (now known as Business Computer Corporation). It first went on sale in January 1971 and this news was notably published on Electronic Design, a web site and print magazine for electronic design engineers and engineering management, on February 18, 1971 issue. February 19 February 20 Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka won her second Australian Open Grand Slam title on 20 February 2021 beating Jennifer Brady 6-4 6-3 in the final. Japan ranked as the world’s safest country for the newborn with lowest newborn mortality rates, according to an official report published by UNICEF on 20 February 2018. February 21 February 22 Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 sent to collect samples from an asteroid 300 million kilometres away for clues about the origin of life and the solar system landed successfully on 22 February 2019. Japanese filmmaker Yōjirō Takita's film Departures won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 81st Oscars in 2009. The story of the film follows an unemployed cellist and shows the profound reflection of life. February 23 February 24 Scientists from Japan, Australia and Sweden, with the help of elephant seals wearing head sensors, have discovered how the ocean's coldest, deepest waters are formed, providing vital clues to understanding its role in the world's climate, according to a research published on 24 February 2013 in the journal Nature Geoscience. The tagged seals, along with sophisticated satellite data and moorings in ocean canyons, all played a role in providing data from the extreme Antarctic environment, where observations are very rare and ships could not go. February 25 February 26 February 27 February 28 Japan successfully launched a rocket on 28 February 2014, carrying a hi-tech satellite to monitor global rainfall and help meteorologists forecast big storms. Japanese doctors successfully carried out the country's first heart-transplant operation on February 28, 1999. February 29

March

March 1 Japan is home to a number of world renowned automotive industries. Daihatsu, a Japanese manufacturer of cars, was the first to establish on March 1, 1907. March 2 A ceremony marked the completion of the Tokyo Sky Tree, a broadcasting and observation tower in Tokyo, was held on 2 March 2012. The 634m (2,080ft) high tower was completed as the world's tallest free-standing broadcasting tower. March 3 March 4 A study published on 4 March 2013 in the Journal of Dental Research by Japanese and English researchers demonstrated the possibility of growing new teeth on patient's jaw from the combination of human gum tissue and tooth stem cells taken from a mouse embryo. March 5 Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, renowned for his versatility and transnational approach to design, won the 2019 Pritzker Architecture Prize - a prestigious award often called the Nobel Prize of the profession. Sayaka Osakabe of Japan was honored with the 2015 International Women of Courage Award by the United States Department of State at a presentation ceremony in Washington for her initiatives to reform the Japanese workplace to accommodate women and families. March 6 March 7 March 8 March 9 A team of paleontologists has identified a new genus and species of hadrosaur or duck-billed dinosaur, Yamatosaurus izanagii, on one of Japan's southern islands. Their discovery was published in Scientific Reports on 9 March 2021. March 10 March 11 Osaka University researchers in Japan have used AI to decode brain activity of people to create images of what they are seeing, as their study was published on 11 March 2023. Scientists from Japan and Russia have successfully revived the cells of a 28,000-year-old woolly mammoth in a new research published in the journal Scientific Reports on 11 March 2019. Researchers at Japan's Kyoto University have discovered a bacteria, named Ideonella sakaiensis, that is capable of consuming plastic, according to a study published in the journal Science on 11 March 2016. March 12 Japanese scientists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have succeeded in transmitting energy wirelessly, in a key step that could one day make solar power generation in space a possibility, as revealed on 12 March 2015. March 13 March 14 March 15 Japan's Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota were crowned women's doubles champions on 15 March 2020 at the All England Open badminton tournament. March 16 Japanese and French scientists have identified a meteorite, known as Erg Chech 002, formed in the first million years of our solar system, making it the oldest known meteor of volcanic origin, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal on 16 March 2021. March 17 A team of international scientists and Japanese researchers have found the evolution of barn swallows bird in Asia is shaped by the Tibetan Plateau, as revealed on 17 March 2020. Japanese film director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters won the Best Film Award at the 13th Asian Film Awards on 17 March 2019 in Hong Kong. Japanese actress KIKI Kirin received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th Asian Film Awards on 17 March 2016 in Macau. Japan’s Tokyo International Haneda Airport ranked as the World's Fourth Best Airport at the World Airport Awards published by Skytrax on 17 March 2016. Japanese architect Toyo Ito, whose buildings have been praised for their fluid beauty and balance between the physical and virtual worlds, was announced winner of the 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize. March 18 Japanese director Takeshi Kitano won the Best Director prize at the 7th Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong on 18 March 2013 for his sequel Outrage Beyond. March 19 Researchers at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology in Japan have developed a “smelling screen” that makes smells appear to come from the exact spot on any LCD screen that is displaying an image. This research is presented on 19 March 2013 at the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference in Orlando, Florida. March 20 In a world first, scientists have studied the DNA of giant squid from across the globe to discover that they all belong to the same species. The genetic diversity of giant squid (Architeuthis) is surprisingly low and indeed far lower than that of other marine species studied to date. The findings were published on 20 March 2013 in the British journal the Proceedings of the Royal Society B by an international team including researcher from Japan. March 21 Japan won the 2026 Women's Football Asian Cup beating Australia 1-0 in the final in Sydney, winning their third Asian Cup crown. Japan's Tokyo Haneda Airport was named as the World's Cleanest Airport by air travellers at the 2018 Skytrax World Airport Awards. Japan and Bahrain signed thirteen memorandums of understanding and agreements on 21 March 2013 designed to promote economic cooperation and joint investment between the two countries. Japanese Production Designer Hayashida Yuji won the Best Production Designer award for the film “13 Assassins“ at the 5th Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong on March 21, 2011. March 22 Japan defeated the USA 3-2 to win their third World Baseball Classic title on 22 March 2023 in Miami. Japanese whisky Yamazaki and Nikka won the World’s Best Single Malt Whisky and World’s Best Blended Malt Whisky titles respectively at the 6th Whisky Magazine’s World Whisky Awards on 22 March 2012. March 23 March 24 Japanese figure skater Kaori Sakamoto on 24 March 2023 became the first Japanese woman to defend her title at the figure skating world championships. Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who has used high-strength cardboard tubes to make temporary housing for victims of natural disasters and refugees fleeing conflicts, was named the 2014 winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. March 25 Japan on 25 March 2015 unveiled Izumo, its largest warship since World War II, at a ceremony in Yokohama. The 248 meters long home-built vessel can carry up to 14 helicopters. Japanese actress Ikewaki Chizuru won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the 9th Asian Film Awards on 25 March 2015 in Macau for her performance in The Light Shines Only There. March 26 Japan's Shoma Uno claimed men's figure skating world title when he secured the gold medal in the men's singles event at the world championships on 26 March 2022. Japanese, Singaporean and South Korean passports jointly ranked as the world's most powerful passports at the Henley Passport Index published on 26 March 2019. Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor Akira Kurosawa accepted the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement on March 26, 1990 for accomplishments that have inspired, delighted, enriched and entertained audiences and influenced filmmakers throughout the world. March 27 Japanese film Drive My Car won the Oscar for Best International Film at the 94th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on 27 March 2022. March 28 March 29 Japan's Mao Asada won her third Women's World Figure Skating title on 29 March 2014 before a roaring home crowd. March 30 March 31

April

April 1 Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan won second world title in the Men’s Free Skating event at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki on 1 April 2017. April 2 April 3 April 4 In a key step towards reading dreams precisely, scientists in Japan have found a way to read people's dreams using MRI scanners to unlock some of the secrets of the unconscious mind. Their findings were published on 4 April 2013 in the journal Science. The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge located in Japan, with a main span of 1,991m, was opened for traffic on April 5, 1998 as the longest suspension bridge in the world. April 5 Narisawa in Japan was named as the World’s 18th Best Restaurant for 2017. April 6 April 7 Japan and Australia agreed on a historic Free Trade Deal on 7 April 2014 to cut import tariffs. April 8 April 9 Kyoto University Hospital in Japan on 9 April 2021 revealed it has performed the world's first living donor lung transplant on a patient who lost functionality of both her lungs due to infection from the novel coronavirus. April 10 April 11 Japanese design group, AMAM, was announced as the Grand Prix winner of the Lexus Design Award 2016 for their new environmentally-friendly plastic alternative prototype ‘Agar plasticity — a potential usefulness of agar for packing and more’. April 12 April 13 April 14 April 15 Japanese table tennis player Miu Hirano won the Women's Singles title at the 2017 Asian Table Tennis Championships and became the first Japanese to win Asian Championships after 20 years. Japanese automaker Nissan on 15 April 2014 officially opened its $1.5 billion industrial complex in Resende, Rio de Janeiro, one of the largest automotive investments yet by any manufacturer in the country. Researchers from Japan and Australia successfully teleported wave packets of light, potentially revolutionizing quantum communications and computing, according to a research publication appeared on 15 April 2011 in the journal Science. This is the first-ever teleportation, or transfer, of a particular complex set of quantum information from one point to another. Disneyland, one of the world's most famous theme parks, was opened in Tokyo on April 15, 1983. April 16 Japanese photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba’s image Straight Voice, an emotion-charged photo of protest in Sudan, won the World Press Photo of the Year 2020 award. April 17 Japanese tennis sensation Naomi Osaka was named on Time magazine's 100 most influential people list on 17 April 2019. Scientists from Japan, Brazil and Switzerland have discovered four new insect species in Brazil that display what they say are the world’s first discovered instances of female penises. Their study, also found males' vagina-like openings, was reported in Current Biology on 17 April 2014. April 18 Japan and Australia on 18 April 2026 signed contracts to supply Australia with three Japanese-designed warships, Tokyo's most consequential military sale since ending a military export ban in 2014. April 19 The UN Economic and Social Council on 19 April 2017 elected Japan as a member of its Commission on the Status of Women for a four-year terms. Dr Shinya Yamanaka, a pioneer in stem cell research from Japan, was named joint winner of the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize in recognition of his discovery of a new method to develop induced pluripotent stem cells for medical research that do not rely on the use of embryonic stem cells. The award is one of the largest technology prizes in the world and is awarded once every two years by Technology Academy Finland. April 20 Yuriko Koike, governor of Tokyo, was named as one of the most influential people, according to Time Magazine’s 2017 list of 100 Most Influential People. Japan won approval from participating countries to join talks on a U.S.-led Asia Pacific free trade agreement on 20 April 2013. The formal invitation for Tokyo to join the negotiations was extended at a meeting of members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in Surabaya, Indonesia. Japan will join 11 nations already in talks on the TPP. April 21 Japan's maglev train broke its own world speed record, hitting 603km/h (374mph) in a test run near Mount Fuji, on 21 April 2015. April 22 Japanese earth scientist Dr. Taro Takahashi was awarded the prestigious Champions of the Earth Award by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on April 22, 2010. Dr. Takahashi, the pioneer of research into how the oceans cycle carbon, was awarded by UNEP in Science and Innovation category. April 23 A study led by Japanese researchers has found that the earliest known octopuses were giant predators that hunted at the very top of the food web, alongside large marine vertebrates, about 100 million years ago. Their findings were published in Science 23 April 2026. Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide was launched to International Space Station (ISS) on SpaceX recycled rocket and capsule after launching from Florida on 23 April 2021. April 24 Japanese car manufacturer Nissan has developed the world’s first ‘self-cleaning car’ which it predicts will make car-washing obsolete, according to an official announcement on 24 April 2014, with the help of its nano-paint technology that stops a car getting dirty. April 25 April 26 Kei Nishikori of Japan successfully retained his Barcelona Open Tennis title by defeating local hero Pablo Andujar 6-4, 6-4 in the final on 26 April 2015. April 27 Japanese tennis player Kei Nishikori beat Colombia's Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-2 to win the Barcelona Open on 27 April 2014 for his first career title on clay. April 28 April 29 April 30

May

May 1 Researchers from Japan and Singapore have developed a novel device to improve performance of underactive bladders. The device comprises a soft and thin sensor that monitors bladder volume continuously as well as an actuator equipped with high voiding efficiency to clear the bladder completely, as reported in the journal Science Advances on 1 May 2020. May 2 Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue retained his undisputed super bantamweight world title with a unanimous decision 116-112, 115-113, 116-112 victory over compatriot Junto Nakatani after a gripping 12-round contest in Tokyo on 2 May 2026. Japan and Thailand signed an agreement on 2 May 2022, during Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Thailand, enabling the mutual transfer of defense equipment and technology, deepening their bilateral security cooperation. A team of researchers from Japan and Germany have found evidence in a lunar meteorite that water once existed on the moon, according to their paper published on the open access site Science Advances on 2 May 2018. May 3 Scientists have discovered a new species of the therizinosaur dinosaur fossil, named Paralitherizinosaurus japonicus, in Japan. The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports on 3 May 2022. Japan won a lucrative deal to build Turkey's second nuclear plant, signing a $22bn deal on the nuclear plant project on 3 May 2013 in the Black Sea province of Sinop in Turkey. May 4 May 5 Japan switched off country's last active nuclear reactor on 5 May 2012, leaving the world's third-biggest user of atomic energy with no nuclear-derived electricity for the first time since 1970. Though the shut down took place for maintenance work, it is expected to remain closed in the foreseeable future under current public concerns. May 6 Japan ranked as the ninth most tourism-friendly country in the world in the 2015 World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. Japanese and Brazilian researchers have found a large mass of granite on the seabed off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, suggesting a continent may have existed in the Atlantic Ocean, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and the Brazilian government announced on 6 May 2013. May 7 May 8 May 9 Japanese capital Tokyo was named as the world's second best student city, according to the fifth edition of the QS Best Student Cities Ranking published on 9 May 2018. May 10 A team of international scientists from Japan, China, Australia and the U.S. has sequenced and annotated the genome of the "sacred lotus," which is believed to have a powerful genetic system that repairs genetic defects, and may hold secrets about aging successfully. The scientists sequenced more than 86 percent of the nearly 27,000 genes of the plant, Nelumbo nucifera, which is revered in China and elsewhere as a symbol of spiritual purity and longevity. The research was published on 10 May 2013 in the journal Genome Biology. May 11 May 12 May 13 Japan placed 4th in the global school ranking published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), as revealed on 13 May 2015. May 14 A team of Japanese scientists has shown it is possible for mammals to absorb oxygen via the anus, according to their findings published in the journal Med on 14 May 2021. May 15 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) in Japan on 15 May 2018 successfully demonstrated for the first time in the world 100 Gbps wireless transmission using a new principle — Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) multiplexing — with the aim of achieving terabit-class wireless transmission to support demand for wireless communications in the 2030s. May 16 A prototype of Japan's next-generation Shinkansen bullet train codenamed ALFA-X, set to be the fastest train on wheels when it enters service, reached speeds of 320km per hour on a test run on 16 May 2019. May 17 A team of Japanese and international astronomers have detected the most distant known source of oxygen in a galaxy of stars called MACS1149-JD1 13.28 billion light years away formed only 250 million years after the Big Bang. Their findings were reported in the journal Nature on 17 may 2018. Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa from Japan, partners in the architectural firm, SANAA, were awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize, considered as one of the highest honors for architects, on 17 May 2010. May 18 Doctors in Japan have successfully transplanted liver cells derived from embryonic stem cells into a newborn baby, in a world first that could provide new treatment options for infants, as revealed on 18 May 2020. May 19 Japanese film director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters won Palme d’Or at the 71st Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2018. A 73-year-old Japanese mountaineer, Tamae Watanabe, who became the oldest woman to conquer Mount Everest a decade ago smashed her own record on 19 May 2012 when she reached the 8,850 meter (29,035 feet) summit once more. May 20 May 21 Japanese garden, an Alcove (Tokonoma) Garden, won Best Artisan Garden prize at the Chelsea Flower Show in the United Kingdom on 21 May 2013 for depicting a traditional tatami room. May 22 May 23 Yuichiro Miura, an 80-year-old Japanese mountaineer, on 23 May 2013 became the oldest person to reach the top of Mount Everest. May 24 May 25 Japan won the 2014 Women’s Asian Cup soccer tournament for the first time, beating defending champion Australia 1-0 in the final in Ho Chi Minh City. May 26 Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Like Father, Like Son" won the Jury Prize at the 66th Cannes Film Festival on 26 May 2013. Legendary Japanese mountaineer Yuichiro Miura conquered the height of Mount Everest at the age of 75 on May 26, 2008. Yuichiro Miura became the first man in the world to summit Mount Everest twice as a septuagenarian. May 27 May 28 Japanese driver Takuma Sato won the Indy 500 on 28 May 2017 representing Honda and became the first Japanese driver to win the race. May 29 Japan signed an agreement on 5G mobile technology research collaboration with the European Union (EU) on 29 May 2015. With the new 5G agreement, the EU will join forces with Japan to cope with the increasing need for wireless Internet. May 30 May 31 The 2002 FIFA World Cup was held in Japan and Republic of Korea from 31 May to 30 June, 2002. It was the first soccer World Cup held in Asia.

June

June 1 Japan’s H-IIA rocket on 1 June 2017 successfully launched a satellite named Michibiki-2 aimed at providing more accurate geolocation information in combination with GPS. Japanese restaurant Narisawa ranked 8th in the World's 50 Best Restaurant awards in London on 1 June 2015. Hideki Matsuyama became the fourth Japanese player ever to win on the PGA Tour when he captured the Memorial golf tournament in a playoff over American Kevin Na on 1 June 2014. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged African leaders a $32 billion in public and private support on 1 June 2013 to help growth on the continent and encourage Japanese firms to invest there over the next five years. The package was unveiled at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama in front of some 50 African leaders. Japan and China started direct currency trading on 1 June 2012 for the first time, without having to use the US dollar as an intermediary currency, to boost ties between the two Asian economic giants. On 1 June 2007 archaeologists revealed they discovered a 2,100-year-old melon in western Japan. Based on a radiocarbon analysis, researchers estimated the half-rounded piece of fruit to be about 2,100 years old. June 2 June 3 Japanese and international scientists using an aerial remote-sensing method have discovered the largest and oldest-known structure built by the ancient Maya civilization – a colossal rectangular elevated platform built between 1000 and 800BC in Mexico’s Tabasco state. Their findings were published in the journal Nature on 3 June 2020. A team of Japanese astronomers has pinpointed the farthest known galaxy to date from Earth using the Subaru and Keck Telescopes, according to an official announcement on 3 June 2012. The galaxy, called SXDF-NB1006-2, was discovered at a distance of 12.91 billion light years from the Earth. June 4 June 5 An international team of astronomers, including researchers from Japan, has discovered the hottest known exoplanet, a world where temperatures exceed those on the surface of most stars. The Jupiter-like planet, named as KELT-9b, was detailed in the journal Nature on 5 June 2017. Japanese firm Softbank unveiled a robot called Pepper, the world's first personal robot that can read human emotions, on 5 June 2014. June 6 Japan was ranked as the ninth most peaceful country in the world according to the 2018 Global Peace Index (GPI) produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). June 7 Japanese researchers have discovered a possible new way to develop drugs without side effects according to a study published in the journal Nature on 7 June 2023. The Sony Corporation, a Japanese multinational corporation, displayed the first black‐and‐white home videotape recorder on 7 June 1965. It went on sale for $995. June 8 Researchers from Japan, Indonesia and Australia have uncovered the fossilised remains of the 700,000-year-old ancestor of the tiny primitive human, affectionately dubbed the ‘Hobbit’. The discovery was made at a site named Mata Menge on the Indonesian island of Flores and detailed in the journal Nature on 8 June 2016. June 9 Osaka in Japan was named the world's second most liveable city by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on 9 June 2021. Japanese tennis players Shingo Kunieda and Yui Kamiji won their respective wheelchair Men’s and Women’s French Open singles titles on 9 June 2018. June 10 The University of Tokyo topped the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2015. June 11 June 12 June 13 June 14 Japan's Sharp Corporation has achieved the world's highest solar cell conversion efficiency of 44.4 per cent to date, using a concentrator triple-junction compound solar cell, as revealed on 14 June 2013. June 15 Professor Hiroaki Suga of the University of Tokyo, Japan received the prestigious 2023 Wolf Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to “pioneering discoveries that illuminate the functions and pathological dysfunctions of RNA and proteins and for creating strategies to harness the capabilities of these biopolymers in new ways to ameliorate human diseases.” Kimiko Hirata of Japan won the 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize for Islands & Island Nations region for leading grassroots campaign that led to the cancellation of 13 coal power plants in Japan. June 16 Japanese astronomers and a team of international researchers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), detected a clear signal from oxygen in a galaxy named SXDF-NB1006-2 located 13.1 billion light-years away from earth. This is the most distant oxygen detected to date, as reported in the journal Science on 16 June 2016. June 17 Japan ranked as the eighth most peaceful country in the world at the 2015 Global Peace Index published by Institute for Economics & Peace. June 18 June 19 Japanese actress Naomi Fujiyama won the Best Actress award at the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival for her role in the film Danchi. Japanese immunologist Tasuku Honjo and American James P. Allison were announced as the winners of the first Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science on 19 June 2014 for their contributions to immunotherapy, specifically for their separate discoveries of CTLA-4 and PD-1 as immune inhibitory molecules, discoveries which have opened up new, revolutionary possibilities in the treatment of cancer. June 20 June 21 Tomioka Silk Mill and related sites in Japan, an historic sericulture and silk mill complex established in 1872 in the Gunma Prefecture north west of Tokyo, was inscribed in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s World Heritage List on 21 June 2014. June 22 Japanese supercomputer Fugaku was named the world’s fastest by TOP500 on 22 June 2020, marks the first time a Japanese system has taken the top slot since 2011. Japan's cone-shaped, snow-topped volcano, Mount Fuji, was granted World Heritage status by UNESCO on 22 June 2013. The United Nations body selected the mountain as a cultural heritage site. June 23 June 24 Japanese footballer Keisuke Honda made football history for Japan after scoring an equalizer against Senegal (2-2) on 24 June 2018 in a FIFA World Cup match and became the first Japanese player to score at three World Cups. Ogasawara Islands, the Japanese islands situated some 1,000 km south of the country's main archipelago, was inscribed on UNESCO's 2011 World Heritage List for the wealth of their ecosystems which reflect a wide range of evolutionary processes. June 25 June 26 Japanese scientists have cloned a mouse from a single drop of blood. For the first time ever, researchers have created such clone using circulating blood cells collected from the tail of a donor mouse. Their findings were published on 26 June 2013 in the journal Biology of Reproduction. June 27 June 28 June 29 The Japanese movie Sayonara Keikoku (The Ravine of Goodbye) won the Special Jury Prize or Silver George Award at the 35th Moscow International Film Festival on 29 June 2013. June 30

July

July 1 Japan's latest record-breaking bullet train, the N700S, that can run up to 360 kilometers per hour entered into service on 1 July 2020 linking Tokyo Station and Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka. From 1 July 2020, Japan made it mandatory for the convenience stores, supermarkets, drugstores and other retail outlets to charge shoppers for plastic shopping bags, in line with a global trend of reducing plastic waste to combat marine pollution. July 2 Scientists at the University of Osaka in Japan have developed a new way to watch important molecules move inside living cells, opening the door to better understanding diseases such as cancer and diabetes. The discovery was published in Nature Cell Biology on 2 July 2026. Japanese scientists have found a way to slow down the ageing process in flowers by up to a half, meaning bouquets could remain fresh for much longer. Their study, published on 2 July 2014 in The Plant Journal, has found the gene believed to be responsible for the short shelf-life of flowers in one Japanese variety of Morning Glory. July 3 A team of Japanese and Chinese scientists has discovered the highest energy cosmic gamma rays ever observed from an observatory in Tibet, opening a new window to explore the extreme universe. The energy of the gamma rays is as high as 450 TeV, equivalent to 45 billion times of the energy of X-rays for medical diagnosis, was revealed on 3 July 2019. Scientists in Japan have created a functional human liver from stem cells derived from skin and blood, according to a study published on 3 July 2013 in the journal Nature. Although preliminary, the results offer a potential path towards developing treatments for the thousands of patients awaiting liver transplants every year. July 4 Researchers at Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology have set a new world record for internet speed, achieving a staggering 402 terabits per second (Tbps), as widely reported on 4 July 2024. A collaborative effort by cancer researchers from Japan, Austria and the USA has identified a new drug target in leukemia and creation of a candidate drug that hits the target. The newly identified target is a binding pocket on a protein called BRD9. The drug to bind at that pocket, called a bromodomain, is provisionally called BI-7273, as revealed on 4 July 2016 in Nature Chemical Biology. July 5 A Panda was born on 5 July 2012 at Tokyo's popular Ueno zoo for the first time in 24 years. July 6 July 7 July 8 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addressed a special joint sitting of Australian federal parliament on 8 July 2014 on the first full day of his visit to Australia. July 9 The UNESCO World Heritage Committee on 9 July 2017 inscribed Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata in Japan as the World Heritage sites. July 10 July 11 July 12 July 13 Japanese students won four gold, one silver and one bronze medals in the prestigious 2014 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) held in Cape Town, South Africa. July 14 Fossilized teeth from a species of giant tyrannosaurs dinosaur have been discovered for the first time in Japan from a stratum that dates back 81 million years, as announced on 14 July 2015. July 15 July 16 A team of Japanese and international scientists has suggested that the rise of ceramic production was closely linked with intensified fishing at the end of the last Ice Age. The study, examined 800 earliest known pottery remains, was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on 16 July 2018. July 17 Researchers from the Osaka University Japan have developed a fluorescent sensor that allows them to see connections between brain cells being made and removed via a specific adhesion molecule, as published on 17 July 2023. Japan signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) on 17 July 2018 that covers 600 million people and almost a third of the global economy. Japan won Women’s Soccer World Cup champions for the first time after a penalty shootout victory over USA, following a 2-2 draw in the regulation time, on July 17, 2011. Defender Saki Kumagai had the honour of hitting home the decisive spot-kick as Japan triumphed 3-1 in the shootout. July 18 ANA All Nippon Airways of Japan received the World's Best Airline Cabin Cleanliness award at the prestigious 2018 Skytrax World Airline Awards. July 19 Japan ranked tenth at the 2018 United Nations (UN) E-Government Survey, which measures countries’ use of information and communications technologies to deliver public services. Japanese government on 19 July 2013 gave its seal of approval to the world's first clinical trials using stem cells harvested from a patient's own body. The approval will allow researchers to begin tests aimed at treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a common medical condition that causes blindness in older people, using induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells. July 20 Japanese scientists have revived bacteria which survived more than 100 million years laying dormant on the seafloor. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Communications on 28 July 2020. July 21 A Japanese H-2B rocket carrying the unmanned Kounotori 3 cargo vehicle bound for the International Space Station successfully lifted off on 21 July 2012. The powerful H-2B No. 3, the nation's largest domestically made rocket, blasted off from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center in the town of Minami-Tane, Kagoshima Prefecture. July 22 Japanese researchers have discovered that African Elephants have the largest number of genes dedicated to smell of any mammal. Their study was published on 22 July 2014 in the journal Genome Research. July 23 The 2020 Summer Olympics was proudly hosted by Japan from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, after a year delay due to COVID-19 pandemic. A Russian Soyuz space capsule carrying a Japanese, an American and a Russian astronauts successfully docked with the International Space Station on 23 July 2015. The Soyuz TMA-17M capsule carried Oleg Kononenko of Russia, NASA's Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui of Japan. July 24 Akiko Kojima from Japan won the 1959 Miss Universe contest at the age of 22. Akiko was the first Asian woman to win the contest. July 25 July 26 July 27 Researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science & Technology Graduate University, Japan have discovered two new ant species and named them Pheidole drogon and Pheidole viserion. Their discoveries were revealed in the journal PLOS ONE on 27 July 2016. Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers won the prestigious 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award for their commitment to the values of peace and understanding. July 28 Japan claimed the East Asian Cup football championship for the first time on 28 July 2013 with a 2-1 win for the men's team over hosts South Korea. July 29 July 30 July 31 Japanese researchers revealed the speed secrets of the Cheetah's by mapping the muscles fibres of the big cat. Their study is the first to investigate muscle fibre distribution across the whole of the cheetah's body. The findings were published online in the journal Mammalian Biology on 31 July 2012.

August

August 1 Japanese mathematician Masaki Kashiwara was awarded one of the most prestigious prizes in the mathematics world, Chern Medal Award, on 1 August 2018. Japan and Brazil on 1 August 2014 signed mutual cooperation treaties in the infrastructure, pharmaceutical, energy, mining and educational areas. August 2 August 3 August 4 A team of international and Japanese scientists has discovered a 28,000 years old perfectly preserved cave lion cub frozen in Siberia. The female cub, named Sparta, was detailed in the Quaternary journal on 4 August 2021. Japan successfully launched a cargo-carrying rocket on 4 August 2013 loaded with supplies for the crew of the International Space Station. A small talking robot was accompanied the launch, designed to act as a chatting companion for Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is set to arrive at the space station later this year. Sending the robot to space is part of a study aimed at seeing how a non-human companion can provide emotional support for people isolated over long periods. Japanese and Colombian researchers on 4 August 2013 announced, in a study published in the journal Nature Genetics, they had developed a rice plant with deeper roots that can sustain high yields in droughts that wipe out conventional rice crops. August 5 Papua New Guinea has the highest plant diversity of any island in the world, botanists from Japan and their international colleagues have discovered. Their findings were published on 5 August 2020 in the journal Nature. August 6 Japan on 6 August 2013 unveiled its biggest warship, Izumo, since World War II, to be used in anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance missions. The vessel has a flight deck nearly 250m (820ft) long and can reportedly carry more than nine helicopters. August 7 A team of astronomers, including Japanese researchers, has uncovered a population of 39 massive ancient previously unknown galaxies — and they could inform our understanding of everything from the universe’s birth to the nature of dark matter. Their findings were published in the journal Nature on 7 August 2019. August 8 August 9 August 10 Kohei Uchimura of Japan won gold in the Men's Individual All-Around Gymnastics at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil. August 11 The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, successfully launched an H3 rocket carrying the Michibiki No. 7 positioning satellite from its Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on 11 August 2026. August 12 Japan's Kotaro Kiyooka outpointed Rahman Amouzadkhalili of Iran 10-3 to win the men's 65-kg freestyle wrestling gold medal at the Paris Olympics on 12 August 2024. August 13 August 14 Researchers from Keio University in Japan have created a robotic tail, dubbed Arque, for humans that's designed to assist elderly maintain balance, as widely reported on 14 August 2019. Researchers from Japan and an international team have set out the first comprehensive map of mutational processes behind the development of tumors - work that should in future lead to better ways to treat and prevent a wide range of cancers. Their study, published on 14 August 2013 in the journal Nature, discovered the genetic imprints and signatures left by DNA-damaging processes that lead to cancer. August 15 August 16 August 17 August 18 August 19 Japan on 19 August 2017 successfully launched a H-2A rocket carrying a geo-positioning satellite into orbit from Tanegashima Space Center. Japan on 19 August 2015 successfully launched an unmanned cargo transfer vehicle KOUNOTORI5 to deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). Japan won the 2012 Women's Baseball World Cup beating Team USA 3-0 in the gold medal final in Edmonton, Canada. It is their third straight world cup title. August 20 August 21 August 22 August 23 Karaoke, an entertainment system in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music, was invented by Daisuke Inoue from Osaka, Japan. In 1999, TIME Magazine named Daisuke Inoue to its list of "The Most Influential Asians of the Century" in its August 23-30, 1999 VOL. 154 NO. 7/8 issue. Issey Miyake, a Japanese fashion designer, for whom high-tech fibers has been an obsession and nature has been an inspiration. In his three decades in design, Miyake has worked at the intersection of art and fashion, nature and technology, innovation and tradition and, notably, East and West. TIME Magazine named Miyake to its list of "The Most Influential Asians of the Century" in its August 23-30, 1999 VOL. 154 NO. 7/8 issue. August 24 August 25 Japanese company Sky Drive on 25 August 2020 announced the successful test drive of a flying car, named SD-03, the first public demonstration for a flying car in Japanese history. Japanese marathon runner Hiroto Inoue won a gold medal with a time of 2 hours, 18 minutes and 22 seconds at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia on 25 August 2018. August 26 Japanese scientists have found a radiation-resistant bacteria can survive at least three years exposed in orbit, suggesting simple life forms could manage the long journey between Earth and Mars unprotected. Their findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology on 26 August 2020. August 27 Japanese wheelchair racer Tomoki Sato won the gold medal at the National Stadium in the men’s 400m T52 at the Tokyo Paralympic Games on 27 August 2021. Nozomi Okuhara became Japan’s first-ever Women’s Singles World Badminton champion by beating India’s Pusarla V Sindhu at the world championships in Glasgow on 27 August 2017. August 28 August 29 Japanese runner IIzuka Shota won the gold medal in the men's 200 meters at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta on 29 August 2018. August 30 In a collaboration between a team of Japanese and American researchers, a beaked whale species which has long been called Kurotsuchikujira has been confirmed as the new cetacean species Berardius minimus (B. minimus), as published in the journal Scientific Reports on 30 August 2019. August 31 Japan’s women's soccer team won the Asian Games gold medal after defeating China 1-0 at Sriwijaya Stadium in Jakabaring Sorts City, Palembang, South Sumatra on 31 August 2018.

September

September 1 A social security agreement between Japan and China covering nationals working in the other country took effect on 1 September 2019. Under the agreement, Japan will exempt China's dispatched employees, crew members, flight attendants, diplomatic and consular personnel and civil servants working in the country from the obligation to pay two major local annuities, while China will do the same for their Japanese counterparts. Japan and India have upgraded their partnership to the level of Special Strategic and Global Partnership with the signing of a defense pact for regional stability and Tokyo's decision to increase foreign investment in India over the next five years for boosting India's infrastructure, including bullet trains. The agreements, officially revealed on 1 September 2014, were signed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Japan. September 2 September 3 Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese man in 96 years to reach the US Open Tennis semi-finals on 3 September 2014 after securing an epic 3-6 7-5 7-6 (9-7) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 win over Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka. September 4 Japanese scientists have found evidence of a mid-sized black hole in a gas cluster near the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, which they believe could be the missing link in the development of supermassive black holes that has been theorized, but never officially found. Their study was published in the journal Nature Astronomy on 4 September 2017. September 5 Japanese researchers have discovered that natural chemicals called onnamides, extracted from Theonella sponges collected at Manza, show remarkable effectiveness against leishmaniasis, a tropical disease that causes devastating skin ulcers and permanent scarring. Their findings were published in the journal Marine Biotechnology on 5 September 2025. Azbil Corporation of Japan was announced as the winner in the Innovation and Design category at the Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards (SEAA) 2024 organized by the Singapore Environmental Council (SEC). Azbil won this award for enhancing its sustainability performance through creativity, life cycle thinking, and technological advancements. Researchers at the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research (CPR) in Japan has engineered a system for creating remote controlled cyborg cockroaches, equipped with a tiny wireless control module that is powered by a rechargeable battery attached to a solar cell. The discovery was detailed in the journal Nature on 5 September 2022. In a world first, Japanese and a team of international researchers have transformed tissue cells into skin cells to help heal serious wounds, a technique that could revolutionise care for victims of burns and other severe injuries. Their study was published on 5 September 2018 in the journal Nature. Scientists from Japan, the UK and the US have discovered the single largest volcano in the world, a dead colossus deep beneath the Pacific waves, according to their researched published on 5 September 2013 in the journal Nature Geoscience. September 6 September 7 Japan successfully launched a homegrown H-IIA rocket carrying a lunar exploration spacecraft from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on 7 September 2023. A collaborative effort by researchers from Japan and their international colleagues has identified compounds that act on a novel target in the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. Their experiments that cured mice of the disease were detailed in the journal Nature on 7 September 2016. September 8 Naomi Osaka of Japan defeated Serena Williams, 6-2, 6-4, to win the 2018 US Open women’s singles tennis title, becoming the first Japanese player to win a major singles title in the history of the sport. Japan's Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese or Asian man to play a grand slam tennis tournament final at the 2014 US Open. Kei had to settle for the runner-up trophy in the final losing 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 against Croatian Marin Cilic. September 9 September 10 September 11 Japan and Britain on 11 September 2020 signed a free trade agreement - UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement - expected to increase trade by an estimated £15.2 billion. Japanese and English scientists have successfully ‘reset’ human pluripotent stem cells to the earliest developmental state – equivalent to cells found in an embryo before it implants in the womb (7-9 days old). The discovery, published in Cell on 11 September 2014, will lead to a better understanding of human development and could in future allow the production of safe and more reproducible starting materials for a wide range of applications including cell therapies. September 12 Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka pulled off an incredible comeback to defeat Victoria Azarenka, 1-6 6-3 6-3, in the 2020 US Open women’s final. A new Creative Productivity Index developed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked Japan as the most efficient country in the Asia and Pacific region at turning creative inputs into tangible innovation, as revealed on 12 September 2014. September 13 September 14 Japan on 14 September 2013 launched the first Epsilon Launch Vehicle (Epsilon-1), a new generation of solid-fuel space rocket, carrying a telescope for remote observation of planets hoping the design will make missions more affordable. The Epsilon rocket is about half the size of Japan's previous generation of space vehicles, and uses artificial intelligence to perform safety checks. September 15 Rocket Lab successfully launched a Japanese radar imaging satellite, the StriX-1 satellite for Japanese company Synspective, on 15 September 2033 from New Zealand. September 16 Hiroyuki Sanada won best lead actor award in a drama series for Shogun at the 2024 Emmys, becoming the first Japanese actor and only the second Asian actor to ever win in the category in Emmy history. September 17 Shotaro Ishihara from Japan was named one of the International News Media Association's 30 under 30 award winners, recognising rising stars in the global media industry. Scientists in Japan have created a microscopically thin film that can coat individual teeth to prevent decay or to make them appear whiter. This is the world's first flexible apatite sheet, which is expected to protect teeth or repair damaged enamel, as reported on 17 September 2012. September 18 September 19 September 20 Japan's Takumi Hojo claimed first gold of Asian Games 2026 in the men’s individual triathlon finishing the 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike ride and 5,000-meter run in 52 minutes, 56 seconds, nine seconds. Asia's first Rugby World Cup was held in Japan from 20 September to 2 November 2019, outside the traditional heartland of rugby union. A team of Japanese researchers has successfully generated human oogonia inside of artificial mouse ovaries using human stem cells. Their study was published in the journal Science on 20 September 2018. September 21 September 22 Japan's space agency (JAXA) made history by successfully landing two robotic explorers – released by the Hayabusa2 space probe – on the surface of an asteroid, 1km-wide space rock known as Ryugu, on 22 September 2018. September 23 An unmanned Japanese space capsule KOUNOTORI7 was successfully launched to the International Space Station filled with cargo including food, experiments and new batteries from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on 23 September 2018. September 24 September 25 Japanese athlete Kusaki Hinano clinched gold in the Women's Park Final at the 2023 Asian Games at Qiantang Roller Sports Centre. September 26 September 27 September 28 ANA All Nippon Airways of Japan won the World’s Cleanest Airline Cabins award 2021 at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. September 29 September 30 Japanese researchers have derived a photostable and bright green fluorescent protein from the Japanese jellyfish Cytaeis uchidae, as revealed on 30 September 2022. A joint Japanese-Mongolian team has unearthed a giant dinosaur footprint in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, which measures 106 centimetres (42 inches) long and 77 centimeters wide, as revealed on 30 September 2016. Japan ranked as the sixth most competitive country in the world, according to a World Economic Forum report released on 30 September 2015. This report, provides insight into the drivers of a country’s productivity and prosperity, suggests Japan has been nurturing innovation and talent. Japanese telco NTT Docomo on 30 September 2013 unveiled an augmented reality glasses at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (CEATEC) fair in Japan that translates a menu in real time, that's set to be ready in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The device using character recognition technology enables instant language translation for users travelling abroad and reading restaurant menus and other documents.

October

October 1 The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2018 was awarded jointly to Tasuku Honjo of Japan and James P. Allison of the USA for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation. October 2 October 3 Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan won the 2016 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy. October 4 Japanese swimmer Kosuke Hagino was announced as the recipient of the Samsung MVP Award for the 2014 Asian Games. Hagino won 4 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals and recognized for his dominant performances in the pool. October 5 The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015 was awarded, one half jointly to William C. Campbell of Ireland and Satoshi Ōmura of Japan for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites and the other half to Youyou Tu of China for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria. October 6 Shimon Sakaguchi from Japan and Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell from the USA won the Nobel Prize for Medicine 2025 for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance. Professor Takaaki Kajita of Japan and Professor Arthur B. McDonald of Canada jointly won the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2015 for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass. Akira Suzuki from Japan jointly won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2010 for the development of palladium-catalyzed cross coupling. This chemical tool has vastly improved the possibilities for chemists to create sophisticated chemicals, for example carbon-based molecules as complex as those created by nature itself. October 7 The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026 was jointly awarded to Kenso Soai of Japan and Henri B. Kagan of France for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis. Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and Shuji Nakamura from the USA jointly won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources. Japan successfully launched Geostationary Meteorological Satellite Himawari-8 on 7 October 2014 atop an H-IIA carrier rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center. October 8 Scientists Susumu Kitagawa from Japan, Richard Robson from Australia and Omar M. Yaghi, a Palestinian–American–Jordanian chemist, won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of metal–organic frameworks. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 was awarded jointly to Japanese physician Shinya Yamanaka and British developmental biologist John B. Gurdon for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent. Japanese chemist Osamu Shimomura was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2008 for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein (GFP). Shimomura was associated with Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, MA, USA and Boston University Medical School, MA, USA in 2008. Professor Masatoshi Koshiba at the University of Tokyo, Japan jointly won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos. Eisaku Sato, former Prime Minister of Japan, jointly won The Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 for renouncing nuclear options in Japan and his work with regional reconciliation in Asia after WWII. October 9 The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019 was awarded jointly to three scientists, Japanese Akira Yoshino, British-American M. Stanley Whittingham and American John B. Goodenough, for the development of lithium-ion batteries. Japanese passport was ranked as the most powerful in the world, according to the 2018 Henley Passport Index, having visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to 190 destinations. Japan's Kohei Uchimura won a record-extending fifth straight all-around title at the 2014 World Gymnastics Championships. The 25-year-old, nicknamed "King Kohei", collected 91.965 points through six apparatus events with Britain's Max Whitlock second on 90.473. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded one half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2002 jointly to Koichi Tanaka from Japan and John B. Fenn from United States. They were awarded for their development of soft desorption ionisation methods for mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules. October 10 Ryoji Noyori from Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya, Japan, was jointly awarded one half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2001 for his contribution on chirally catalysed hydrogenation reactions. Hideki Shirakawa from the University of Tsukuba, Japan was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2000 for the discovery and development of conductive polymers. Japan was the proud organizer of the 1964 Summer Olympics Games. The games were held in Tokyo, Japan from October 10 to October 24, 1964. The 1964 Summer Games were the first Olympics held in Asia. October 11 The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 to the Japanese anti-nuclear organisation Nihon Hidanky. October 12 October 13 The Nobel Prize in Literature for 1994 was awarded to Japanese author Kenzaburo Oe who with poetic force created an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today. October 14 Eight countries including Japan on 14 October 2020 signed an international pact for moon exploration called the Artemis Accords, named after NASA’s Artemis moon programme. October 15 United Nations General Assembly on 15 October 2015 elected Japan to serve as non-permanent members on the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2016. October 16 A research team from the Tokyo University of Science (TUS) in Japan has developed a streamlined method to directly generate photons in an optical fiber by selectively exciting a single isolated rare-earth ion, as revealed on 16 October 2025. Researchers from Japan, China, the UK and the USA have discovered the earliest known complete nervous system exquisitely preserved in the fossilized remains of a never-before described creature that crawled or swam in the ocean 520 million years ago. The fossil, recently discovered in South China, was reported on 16 October 2013 in the journal Nature. October 17 Japanese scientists have discovered a huge moon cave that could one day shelter astronauts from dangerous radiation and wild temperature swings. It is believed to be lava tube created by volcanic activity about 3.5 billion years ago, as revealed in U.S. science magazine Geophysical Research Letters on 17 October 2017. October 18 The 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Kitakyushu, Japan from October 18–24, 2021. Japan unveiled its first passenger aircraft made in nearly four decades at a ceremony in Komaki on 18 October 2014. October 19 Japan and Vietnam agreed to increase defense and security cooperation on 19 October 2020 during Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to Vietnam, reaching an agreement in principle for Japan to export defence equipment and technology to Vietnam. Professor Kenichi Fukui from Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan jointly (with Professor Roald Hoffmann from USA) won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1981 for their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical reactions. October 20 A Japanese flagship H3 rocket carrying the unmanned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe was successfully launched on 20 October 2026 on its way to one of Mars's moons on a world-first mission to retrieve samples, potentially helping unlock the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth. The Japan Times, Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper, won the gold prize for breaking news coverage at the 2023 World Association of News Publishers Asian Media Awards. October 21 Japan’s parliament on 21 October 2025 elected Sanae Takaichi as the country’s first female prime minister, the 64-year-old is known as Japan's "Iron Lady". Japanese and American researchers have identified a series of interlocked jigsaw-shaped joints within the exoskeleton of beetles, which allow them to withstand forces of up to 149 Newtons (approximately 39,000 times the creature's body weight), according to their study published in the journal Nature on 21 October 2020. A group of neurons called the corticobasal ganglia projecting neurons are important for vocal learning in young birds, but not in adult birds, according to a study by Japanese and South Korean researchers published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on 21 October 2019. October 22 Japan's Daiki Hashimoto captured his third consecutive men's individual all-around crown at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships on 22 October 2025, a distinction previously accomplished only by his compatriot Kohei Uchimura. Scientists from Japan and their international colleagues have unearthed fossils in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert that have allowed them for the first time to build a complete picture of one of the most unique dinosaurs, Deinocheirus mirificus. Their study was published on 22 October 2014 in the journal Nature. October 23 The International Bar Association (IBA) on 23 October 2014 presented Mr Yohei Sasakawa of Japan its Rule of Law Award in recognition of his dedication over the past four decades to eliminating leprosy and ending the discrimination and other human rights violations of those who have been affected by the disease. Haruka Shoji, a young Japanese artist, was presented with the United Nations Art for Peace award on 23 October 2012. October 24 October 25 Misaki Doi of Japan claimed her first Women's Tennis Association (WTA) title on 25 October 2015 with a 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-0 win over Mona Barthel in the Luxembourg Open final. October 26 The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on 26 October 2025 successfully launched the HTV-X1 cargo spacecraft into space aboard the 7th H3 Launch Vehicle (H3 F7) carrying essential cargo to the International Space Station. October 27 Koichi Wakata of Japan was awarded the inaugural UNESCO Medal on Space Science at the UNESCO Headquarters on 27 October 2017 for his impressive near 20-years’ experience in spaceflight. October 28 Japan on 28 October 2016 was elected to serve on the United Nations Human Rights Council for a three-year terms beginning on 1 January 2017. The United Nations body is responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe. Japanese men won the world gymnastics team title at the 2015 World Gymnastics Championship in Glasgow, Scotland. October 29 October 30 October 31 Project ACADEMIC-ARK, OTEMON GAKUIN UNIVERSITY of Japan won the Gold Medal in the Institutional Buildings category at the ARCASIA Awards for Architecture 2021. Japanese artistic gymnast Kohei Uchimura won record sixth consecutive world All-Around title at the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships.

November

November 1 Japan ranked as the second most positive country at the World’s Most Positive Countries 2019. Japan ranked as the third most positive country at the World’s Most Positive Countries 2018. Japan ranked eighth in the list of the World’s Most Positive Countries for 2014. Japan ranked fifth in the list of the World’s Most Positive Countries 2012. An international team of astronomers, that also includes researchers from Japan, detected what appears to be light from the first stars in the universe, indicating that stars were present at least as early as 500 million years after the “big bang”. The findings were published on 1 November 2012 in the journal Science. Japan ranked sixth in the list of the World’s Most Positive Countries 2011 revealed by Daily Positive (D+) published on November 1, 2011. November 2 Japanese scientists and their international colleagues have discovered a passenger plane-sized hidden chamber in Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza, in what would be the first such discovery in the structure since the 19th century. Their discovery was detailed in Nature on 2 November 2017. November 3 November 4 Japan's Daiki Hashimoto dethroned reigning champion Zhang Boheng to win the men's all-around final at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool on 4 November 2022. A research team led by Yuichi Ikuhara, a professor of material science at the University of Tokyo, revealed they have succeeded in capturing the first image of a hydrogen atom, a breakthrough that they hope will lead to the creation of new materials and reduce Japanese industry's reliance on imports of rare earth metals. November 5 The world's first wooden satellite, a tiny Japanese spacecraft called LignoSat, was launched into International Space Station (ISS) on 5 November 2024 aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule. November 6 Japanese scientists have developed a method that combines tissue decolorization and light-sheet fluorescent microscopy to take extremely detailed images of the interior of individual organs and even entire organisms. The work, published in the journal Cell 6 November 2014, opens new possibilities for understanding the way life works—the ultimate dream of systems biology—by allowing scientists to make tissues and whole organisms transparent and then image them at extremely precise, single-cell resolution. A three-man crew, including Koichi Wakata from Japan, successfully blasted off into space on 6 November 2013 with the Olympic torch for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. The torch was taken to the International Space Station (ISS) on an Olympic flame's first spacewalk in history. November 7 November 8 Japanese researchers from the Iwate Prefectural University, KEK: High Energy Accelerator Research Organization and the University of Tokyo won prestigious Breakthrough Prizes in Fundamental Physics on 8 November 2015. November 9 Tadashi Takayanagi from the Kyoto University Japan was announced as one of the winners of the 2015 New Horizons in Physics Prize for his contributions in quantum field theory. The award was presented to the winner on 9 November 2014. Japan's revolutionary Autonomous Drive test car Nissan LEAF has taken to the public roads in Japan for the first time, with the country's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on board, according to an official announcement on 9 November 2013. November 10 Japanese football club Kashima Antlers claimed their maiden AFC Champions League title after a goalless draw in the second leg of the final against Persepolis securing a 2-0 aggregate victory on 10 November 2018. November 11 Japan's first passenger jet, Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), made its maiden test flight on 11 November 2015. The MRJ took off from Nagoya Airport and confirmed its basic characteristics and functionality in ascent, descent and turning in airspace off the Pacific coast during its 1.5-hour first flight. November 12 November 13 Researchers from Japan and Malaysia have found a 140-million-year-old dinosaur tooth in Pahang state of Malaysia, as revealed on 13 November 2014. November 14 A new dinosaur-era bird, dubbed Fukuipteryx prima, has been identified from bones collected in Japan that lived approximately 120 million years ago, as detailed in the journal Communications Biology on 14 November 2019. Japan ranked seventh at the Freedom on the Net 2016 index compiled by Freedom House. This index is compiled based on the extent of freedom the citizens of 65 countries experienced on the Internet. An international scientific collaboration that includes researchers from Japan has mapped the genome of the domestic pig in a project that could enhance the animal's use in the testing of drugs for human disease. The research findings were published on 14 November 2012 in the science journal Nature. November 15 A research team at Yamagata University in Japan discovered 142 new geoglyphs, which depict people, animals and other beings, on the Nasca Pampa and surrounding area in Peru, South America, as revealed on 15 November 2019. November 16 November 17 November 18 November 19 November 20 Japan launched its first quantum computer on 20 November 2017 as race for faster machines heats up, in a joint effort from the National Institute of Informatics, telecom giant NTT and the University of Tokyo. November 21 Japanese manufacturer Toshiba unveiled a robot on 21 November 2012 that can withstand high radiation and help in nuclear disasters. The robot is equipped with six cameras and a dosimeter to measure radiation, and can be controlled remotely, allowing emergency workers to assess damages to a nuclear site from a safe distance. November 22 November 23 November 24 November 25 November 26 Japan has unveiled its new high-speed, magnetic levitation trains that have been designed to operate at speeds of over 310mph, as first reported on 26 November 2012. Designed by Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai), the state-of-the-art trains are scheduled to go into use in 2027 after further tests to ensure that commercial services are comfortable. November 27 November 28 November 29 Japanese students secured the fifth place at the global maths and science ranking, according to the International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) released on 29 November 2016. November 30

December

December 1 Japan’s Ritsu Doan was named as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Youth Player of the Year after a string of stunning performances at this year’s AFC U-19 Championship. December 2 December 3 Japan on 3 December 2014 successfully launched the space explorer Hayabusa 2 from the Tanegashima Space Center on a six year roundtrip mission to blow a crater in a remote asteroid and bring back rock samples in hopes of gathering clues to the origin of earth. December 4 The centuries-old and traditional knowledge and skills of sake-making with koji mold in Japan was recognized on UNESCO cultural heritage list on 4 December 2024. Miho Takagi of Japan won the women’s 1,500 meters gold at the Speed-skating World Cup on 4 December 2017 in Calgary. Japanese animated film Your Name was named as the Best Animated Film for 2016 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. December 5 December 6 Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 carrying the first extensive samples of an asteroid named Ryugu completed its six-year mission, landing safely in the remote Australian outback, as announced on 6 December 2020. Japan secured the second position at the 2016 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) global education survey, which evaluates the quality, equity and efficiency of school systems. December 7 Japanese player Mao Asada on 7 December 2013 won the gold medal of ladies figure skating in the International Skating Union Grand Prix Finals. December 8 A joint excavation team from Japan and Mongolia has discovered the ruins of a unique monument surrounded by 14 large stone pillars with Turkic Runic inscriptions arranged in a square on the steppe called Dongoin shiree in eastern Mongolia during their three-year (2015 ~ 2017) joint excavation, as revealed on 8 December 2017. December 9 December 10 Japanese researchers at the Kyoto Prefectural University have developed face masks that use ostrich antibodies to detect traces of the coronavirus by glowing under ultraviolet light, as announced on 10 December 2021. December 11 A Japanese spacecraft, built by Tokyo-based startup Ispace, was launched to the moon on 11 December 2022 in the country's first-ever lunar mission and the first of its kind by a private company. Sasayama of Japan was declared as the member of the 2015 UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the Crafts and Folk Art category. December 12 Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu won the Men’s Short Program ahead of teammate Tatsuki Machida at the ISU Grand Prix of figure skating final on 12 December 2014. December 13 Kazuki Higa made history on 13 December 2025 as the first golfer from Japan to win the Asian Tour order of merit after finishing seventh at the season-ending Saudi Open. December 14 Researchers from the University of Tokyo in Japan have discovered a new type of glass that can heal itself from breaks when pressed by hand at room temperature. The research, published in Science on 14 December 2017, promises healable glass that could potentially be used in phone screens and other fragile devices. December 15 On 15 December 2010 Japanese scientist Tetsuji Nakabo, a professor at Kyoto University, and his team of researchers revealed that they have discovered a Japanese salmon species in a lake near Mount Fuji which thought to be extinct for 70 years. December 16 Japanese team of Ito, Kaori Iwabuchi, Yuka Seto and Sara Takanashi won the inaugural women's ski jumping World Cup team event in Germany on 16 December 2017. December 17 A capsule carrying three astronauts from Japan, Russia and the United States was successfully launched for a two-day trip to the International Space Station on 17 December 2017 from Russia's manned space-launch complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. December 18 December 19 December 20 Japanese researchers and their international colleagues have identified a new dolphin species, named Urkudelphis chawpipacha, based on a small dolphin skull discovered in Ecuador. Their findings were detailed in the journal PLOS ONE on 20 December 2017. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on 20 December 2016 successfully launched the second Epsilon Launch Vehicle with an Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG) satellite aboard from the Uchinoura Space Center. December 21 Japan swept the podium in the men’s halfpipe Snowboard World Cup event on 21 December 2017, with Ayumu Hirano, Raibu Katayama and Yuto Totsuka finishing first, second and third. After detailed study of the meteorite found in California in April 2012, an international team of scientists, including researchers from Japan, reports it contains some of the oldest material in the Solar System. The research findings were published in the journal Science on 21 December 2012. December 22 A team of international and Japanese scientists have discovered at least 70 new rogue planets in our galaxy, it marks the largest such group ever spotted roaming the Milky Way, as revealed in the journal Nature Astronomy on 22 December 2021. December 23 Japanese women’s football team ended 2016 as the second highest ranked Asian national team according to the December FIFA listing released on 23 December 2016. December 24 A team of Japanese and Vietnamese scientists has discovered the first volcanic cave system in Vietnam in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong, as revealed on 24 December 2014. A part of the cave is considered the longest volcanic cave in Southeast Asia. December 25 December 26 December 27 December 28 December 29 December 30 December 31

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