Events in the year 2026 in Japan.
Incumbents Emperor: Naruhito Prime Minister: Sanae Takaichi (Liberal Democratic) Chief Cabinet Secretary: Minoru Kihara (Liberal Democratic) Chief Justice: Yukihiko Imasaki Speaker of the House of Representatives: Fukushiro Nukaga (Liberal Democratic) President of the House of Councillors: Masakazu Sekiguchi (Liberal Democratic)
Events January January 1 – Hachijuni Bank and Nagano Bank merge to form Hachijuni Nagano Bank. January 4 – A collision caused by tea leaves spilled from a moving truck involving 12 vehicles in Sano, Tochigi, leaves one person dead and three others injured. January 5 – A bluefin tuna is sold for a record 510 million (US$3.2 million) at the Toyosu Market in Tokyo. January 6 – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits Tottori and Shimane Prefectures, injuring seven people. China bans the export of dual-use items, with military applications, to Japan, citing contentious statements made by the Japanese government regarding tensions with Taiwan. January 8 – A wildfire breaks out in the mountains of Ōtsuki and Uenohara, Yamanashi, burning at least of forest. January 12 – Former mayor Akira Ogawa is re-elected as the mayor of Maebashi in a special election following her resignation in November 2025. January 14 – The Nikkei 225 sets an all-time high closing at 54,341 points. An ACSL SOTEN recon unmanned aerial vehicle of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force goes missing during a training flight in Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture. January 15 – Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda and Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito agree to form a new political party. Japan and the Philippines sign an agreement allowing their defense forces to exchange logistical support. January 16 – A power outage in Tokyo causes an eight-hour delay in train services, resulting in five people being hospitalized. The mayor of Yokohama, Takeharu Yamanaka, issues a public apology after a city official accuses him of making disparaging remarks on staff. January 17 – The 2026 Common Test for University Admissions is held across Japan. January 20 – A sightseeing helicopter carrying three people, including two Taiwanese nationals, goes missing near Mount Aso. January 21 – Tetsuya Yamagami is sentenced to life imprisonment for the assassination of Shinzo Abe in 2022. The No. 6 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant is reactivated for the first time since 2011. January 22 – Hirofumi Yoshimura resigns as governor of Osaka Prefecture. January 23 – Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolves the House of Representatives at the start of the regular Diet session. January 25 – Takato Ishida wins the 2026 Fukui gubernatorial election. January 26 – The Tokyo District Court orders North Korea to pay in compensation to four Zainichi Koreans who were lured to move to the country through propaganda schemes but instead experienced inappropriate conditions before escaping. January 27 – Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, the last giant pandas in Japan sent there as part of China's Panda diplomacy, leave the Ueno Zoo. January 29 – Three suitcases containing 420 million yen (US$2.7 million) in cash are stolen in a robbery near Ueno Station in Tokyo.
February February 2 – Japan announces the retrieval of sediment containing rare earth minerals at a depth of below sea level off the coast of Minamitorishima. February 3 – Kindai University announces that blackthroat seaperch has been successfully cultivated for the first time. February 8 – 2026 Japanese general election: The LDP becomes the first party in postwar Japan to win a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, winning 316 out of 465 seats. 2026 Yamaguchi gubernatorial election: Incumbent Tsugumasa Muraoka is reelected for a fourth term. 2026 Nagasaki gubernatorial election: Ken Hirata defeats the incumbent Kengo Oishi 2026 Osaka gubernatorial election: Hirofumi Yoshimura (One Osaka) is reelected as governor. 2026 Osaka mayoral election: Hideyuki Yokoyama (One Osaka) is reelected as mayor. February 12 – The Fisheries Agency seizes a Chinese fishing boat and its 11 crew inside the Exclusive economic zone of Japan off the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture. February 13 – Junya Ogawa is elected as the new leader for the Centrist Reform Alliance. One person is killed in a controlled fire at the Akiyoshidai Quasi-National Park in Yamaguchi Prefecture. February 14 – One person is killed while two others are injured in a knife attack in Dōtonbori, Osaka. February 18 – Sanae Takaichi is formally reappointed for a new term as prime minister. February 20 – Five people are killed in a fire at a Buddhist temple in Shimonoseki. A fishing boat sinks after being struck by a cargo vessel off the coast of Mie Prefecture, killing two people and injuring 10 others. February 24 – China imposes export restrictions on 40 Japanese entities accused of contributing to Japanese "remilitarization" efforts.
March
March 4 – Purported yakuza leader Takeshi Ebisawa is convicted and sentenced by a U.S. court to 20 years in prison for trafficking nuclear material, drugs, and weapons. The Tokyo High Court upholds an order to dissolve the Unification Church. March 5 – Kushiro wetlands megasolar issue: Hokkaido Prefectural Government release a report that arsenic, fluorine, boron level outside the Kushiro-shitsugen National Park exceed the standard limit. March 6 – The health ministry approves the sale of Amchepry, a stem cell medication for Parkinson's disease developed by Sumitomo Pharma, and ReHeart, a heart muscle sheets medication for circulatory issues by Cuorips. Japan and Canada sign a strategic agreement to enhance cooperation in the defense, economy and energy sectors. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries confirms an outbreak of avian influenza of the H5N1 strain outbreak at a poultry farm in Abira, Hokkaido. March 8 – The 2026 Ishikawa gubernatorial election is held. March 15 – Japan announces it will start releasing 80 million barrels of oil from its reserves, the largest such release in the country's history, in response to disruptions in the oil supply caused by the 2026 Iran war. March 16 – Two boats carrying high school students on a field trip capsize off Henoko, Okinawa Prefecture, killing two people. March 20 – Six people are killed in a traffic accident along the Shin-Meishin Tunnel in Kameyama, Mie. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. March 23 – 2026 Social Democratic Party (Japan) leadership election (first round): Current chairwoman Mizuho Fukushima and former vice chairwoman Yūko Ōtsubaki advance to a run-off vote. March 25 – A Japan Self-Defence Forces soldier is arrested for suspicion of breaking into the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo with a knife. Around 24,000 people participate in a protest outside the National Diet in opposition of the constitutional revision of Article 9 and the 2026 Iran war. March 26 – A 21-year old worker at the Pokémon Center in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, is fatally stabbed in a murder-suicide incident believed to have been carried out by an ex-boyfriend of the victim. March 28 – A protest against the 2026 Iran war is organized by the civil group Peace for Palestine! Emergency Action, which was attended by 700 people. March 30 – NHK Radio 2 ceases broadcasting after 95 years of airing. March 31 – French President Emmanuel Macron visits Japan.
April April 1 – A magnitude 5.0 earthquake hits southern Tochigi Prefecture. JR Hokkaido’s Rumoi Main Line closes after 115 years in operation. April 3 – A liquefied natural gas (LNG) oil tanker registered in Japan crosses the Strait of Hormuz for the first since the outbreak of the 2026 Iran war. A 50-year-old man is arrested after pouring and lighting a gasoline can in the middle of the Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo. April 5 – 2026 Kyoto gubernatorial election is held. April 6 – 2026 Social Democratic Party (Japan) leadership election: Run-off vote is held. Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and Princess Aiko visit Fukushima Prefecture to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima Daichii nuclear accident. April 8 – Thirty thousand people participate in an anti-war and anti-constitutional amendment protest in front of the National Diet Building in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. Similar protests are also held in 150 other places across Japan. April 12 – The Liberal Democratic Party holds a party conference. April 13 – The body of Yuki Adachi is found in Nantan, Kyoto, following a three-week search. April 16 – A forest fire breaks out in Nemuro, Hokkaido burning of grassland. April 18 – A magnitude 5.0 earthquake hits Nagano Prefecture, injuring one person in Iiyama. April 20 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake hits off the Sanriku Coast, triggering up to tsunamis and injuring six people. April 21 – An artillery shell explodes inside a tank at a JGSDF training ground in Ōita Prefecture, killing three soldiers and injuring one. The Japanese government lifts the ban on arms exports for weapons with lethal capabilities. April 22 – A wildfire breaks out in Otsuchi, Iwate burning at least of forest. April 23 – The Nikkei 225 reaches 60,000 points for the first time. April 27 – A magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes Urahoro, Hokkaido, injuring one person. April 29 – Five cars and two bicycles are involved in an accident in Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, injuring six people.
May May 2 – The 2026 Ōtsuchi wildfires is declared to have been "under control". May 6 – A minibus carrying 20 students collides with a guard rail in Ban-etsu Expressway in Koriyama, Fukushima injuring 17 people and killing one. May 8 – Mount Minamidake in Sakurajima, Kagoshima erupts, creating a high smoke above the crater. May 14 – A ship dismantling plant in Kure, Hiroshima catches fire, resulting in the evacuation of 650 people. May 15 – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake strikes off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture. May 16 – A fire breaks out in the 500-year-old Daihō-ji Temple in Takaoka, Toyama. May 20 – The 1,200-year-old Sacred Fire Hall of Daishō-in Temple in Itsukushima, Hiroshima Prefecture is completely burned down. A magnitude 5.9 earthquake strikes southern Amami, Kagoshima. May 25 – Twenty-five people are injured after a man sprays an unknown substance at Ginza Six in Ginza, Tokyo. May 26 – Philippine President Bongbong Marcos arrives at Haneda Airport for a four-day state visit. May 29 – The 2026 Ōtsuchi wildfires is declared to be extinguished and is also designated as a "major disaster" by the government. May 31 – 2026 Niigata gubernatorial election is held.
June June 1 – US President Donald Trump deploys the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System and Marine Air Defence Integrated System in the southern Japanese islands as part of the US military's regional war plan to defend Taiwan and deter a future Chinese invasion. Nine people are injured in Naha due to Severe Tropical Storm Jangmi, while 82,921 others are evacuated across five municipalities in Okinawa Prefecture, with 27 municipalities without power. June 2 — Four people are injured in a bear attack in Fukushima. June 16 — A magnitude 5.5 earthquake hits Chiba Prefecture, injuring two people. June 19 — Eleven people are injured in a fire at an elementary school in Tokyo. June 23 – At least 15 buildings are burned after a fire breaks out in a shopping arcade in Izumo, Shimane. June 25 — A magnitude 6.9 earthquake hits off Iwate Prefecture, injuring five people. June 26 – 2026 Pacific typhoon season: Typhoon Mekkhala and Tropical Storm Higos result in of 72-hour precipitation on Hofu, Yamaguchi, the highest on record. A landslide also occurs on Hirao, Yamaguchi. June 27 – A magnitude 5.6 earthquake strikes Yamanashi Prefecture, injuring 10 people.
July July 5 – The 2026 Shiga gubernatorial election is held.