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2004 was the 16th year of Heisei in Japan. It was the population "peak" of Japan—the last year in which the national population increased.

Incumbents

• Emperor: Akihito
• Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yasuo Fukuda, Hiroyuki Hosoda
• Governor of Tokyo: Shintaro Ishihara

Events

Kyushu Shinkansen opened in March.

• January 19: Deployment of Japanese troops to Iraq begins as the first set of ground forces arrive in Samawah.
• February 27: Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara is given the death penalty.
• March 4: Famed Yomiuri Giants manager Shigeo Nagashima is hospitalized.
• March 13: First segment of the Kyushu Shinkansen opens.
• March 17: Tokyo District Court issues an injunction halting the sale of Bungei Shunju issues due to a breach of privacy suit by Makiko Tanaka.
• March 24: Chinese activists land in the Senkaku Islands and are arrested by Okinawan police.
• March 30: Nurse Daisuke Mori was sentenced to life imprisonment.^[1]
• April 1: Japan Airlines and Japan Air System merge.
• April 1: New Tokyo International Airport is privatized and renamed Narita International Airport.
• April 1: Teito Rapid Transit Authority becomes Tokyo Metro.
• April 7: Three Japanese civilians taken hostage in Iraq.
• April 8: Economist and graduate school professor Kazuhide Uekusa is arrested for trying to peep under a schoolgirl's skirt on the escalator of JR Shinagawa Station.
• May 10: Winny developer Isamu Kaneko, assistant instructor at Tokyo University, is arrested on charges of contributory copyright infringement.
• May 10: Crown Prince Naruhito denounces palace officials at a press conference, suggesting that Crown Princess Masako is physically and mentally sick.
• May 22: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visits Pyongyang to bring back 5 Japanese youths who were born while their parents were hostages in North Korea.
• June 1: A 12-year-old girl kills her classmate at a Sasebo elementary school.
• July 1: [[ Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range]] enlisted as a world heritage site.
• July 8: Naha District Court in Okinawa sentences US Marine Major Michael Brown to a suspended one-year prison term on charge of attempted rape against a Filipina.
• July 11: In elections for the Upper House. the LDP suffers a small setback.
• July 21: Koizumi meets Roh Moo-hyun at Jeju Island in South Korea.
• July 30: Chikage Ogi becomes the first female Speaker of the House of Councillors.
• August 9: An obsolete steam pipe at Mihama Nuclear Plant blows up, killing four workers.
• September 3: World Rally Championship held in Japan for the first time.
• September 17: Japanese baseball players announce a weekend strike, the first baseball strike in Japanese history.
• September 27: Koizumi reshuffles his cabinet.

The Chūetsu earthquake struck Niigata in October.

• October 20: Typhoon Tokage makes landfall in Japan.
• October 23: The Chūetsu earthquake strikes Niigata Prefecture, causing widespread damage to the area.
• November 1: Bank of Japan issues new 10,000, 5,000 and 1,000-yen banknotes.
• November 2: Japan's first new professional baseball franchise in 50 years is awarded to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
• December 24: Fukuoka Daiei Hawks are sold to Softbank and become the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

Deaths

• April 21: Den Fujita, president of McDonald's Japan
• November 6: Kensaburo Hara, politician
• December 18: Kikuko, Princess Takamatsu

Statistics

• GDP: ¥504 trillion (+1.4%)
• Nikkei 225: High 12,163.89; low 10,365.40
• Wealthiest person in Japan: Nobutada Saji (net worth 6.9 billion USD)
• Yen: High ¥101.83/USD; low ¥114.80/USD

References

1. ^ "The case of the killer nurse". Japan Today. 2004-04-06. http://www.japantoday.com/jp/shukan/222. Retrieved 2008-03-22.