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See also:	Other events of 2005; History of Japan • Timeline • Years

Events in the year 2005 in Japan.

Incumbents

Emperor: Akihito^[1]
Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi (L–Kanagawa)
Chief Cabinet Secretary: Hiroyuki Hosoda (L–Shimane) to October 31, Shinzo Abe (L–Yamaguchi)
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Akira Machida
President of the House of Representatives: Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa) to August 8 and again from September 21
President of the House of Councillors: Chikage Ōgi (L–proportional)
Diet sessions: 162nd (regular, January 21 to August 8), 163rd (special, September 26 to November 1) – 162nd and 163rd Diet are also often referred to as yūsei kokkai, "postal Diet"

Governors

Aichi Prefecture: Masaaki Kanda
Akita Prefecture: Sukeshiro Terata
Aomori Prefecture: Shingo Mimura
Chiba Prefecture: Akiko Dōmoto
Ehime Prefecture: Moriyuki Kato
Fukui Prefecture: Issei Nishikawa
Fukuoka Prefecture: Wataru Asō
Fukushima Prefecture: Eisaku Satō
Gifu Prefecture: Taku Kajiwara (until 5 February); Hajime Furuta (starting 6 February)
Gunma Prefecture: Hiroyuki Kodera
Hiroshima Prefecture: Yūzan Fujita
Hokkaido: Harumi Takahashi
Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido
Ibaraki Prefecture: Masaru Hashimoto
Ishikawa Prefecture: Masanori Tanimoto
Iwate Prefecture: Hiroya Masuda
Kagawa Prefecture: Takeki Manabe
Kagoshima Prefecture: Satoshi Mitazono
Kanagawa Prefecture: Shigefumi Matsuzawa
Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto
Kumamoto Prefecture: Yoshiko Shiotani
Kyoto Prefecture: Keiji Yamada
Mie Prefecture: Akihiko Noro
Miyagi Prefecture: Shirō Asano (until 21 November); Yoshihiro Murai (starting 21 November)
Miyazaki Prefecture: Tadahiro Ando
Nagano Prefecture: Yasuo Tanaka
Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko
Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto
Niigata Prefecture: Hirohiko Izumida
Oita Prefecture: Katsusada Hirose
Okayama Prefecture: Masahiro Ishii
Okinawa Prefecture: Keiichi Inamine
Osaka Prefecture: Fusae Ōta
Saga Prefecture: Yasushi Furukawa
Saitama Prefecture: Kiyoshi Ueda
Shiga Prefecture: Yoshitsugu Kunimatsu
Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita
Shizuoka Prefecture: Yoshinobu Ishikawa
Tochigi Prefecture: Tomikazu Fukuda
Tokushima Prefecture: Kamon Iizumi
Tokyo: Shintarō Ishihara
Tottori Prefecture: Yoshihiro Katayama
Toyama Prefecture: Takakazu Ishii
Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshiki Kimura
Yamagata Prefecture: Kazuo Takahashi (until 13 February); Hiroshi Saitō (starting 14 February)
Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii
Yamanashi Prefecture: Takahiko Yamamoto

Events

January

January 1: The statute of limitations for murder cases is extended from 15 to 25 years.

February

February 17: Chubu Centrair International Airport opens.

March

March 2: A Nanpū express train on the Tosa Kuroshio Railway Sukumo Line derails and crashes into Sukumo Station, killing the train driver.
March 16: The Shimane Prefecture assembly declares "Takeshima Day" to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Japan's claim to Liancourt Rocks (known as Takeshima in Japan, and Dokdo in Korea), starting a wave of protests in South Korea.
March 20: 2005 Fukuoka earthquake^[2]

March 25:
- Expo 2005 opens in Aichi Prefecture.
- Lazytown premieres on TV Asahi, but it was not a success, airing its last on that channel 2 weeks later before moving to NHK General Television.

April

April 1
- Shizuoka City is designated by government ordinance.
- The Japan-Mexico free trade agreement becomes effective
- Tokyo Metropolitan University is established.
April 20: A magnitude 5.8 earthquake hits Fukuoka Prefecture, injuring 56.
April 25: 107 commuters are killed, 562 injured in the Amagasaki rail crash near Osaka.

May

May 3: A Shizuoka Prefecture police helicopter crashes in Shizuoka city, killing five police officers who were on board.
May 22: Prosecutors raided the offices of the 47 firms involved in the bridge scandal.

June

June 23
- 60th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa - a ceremony to remember the dead is held at the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Park.
- The first case of the H5N2 virus in Japan is discovered on a chicken farm in Jōsō, Ibaraki.

July

July 15: Two tankers collide in the Kumano Sea, with one bursting into flames, resulting in one death.

August

August 8: Postal service privatization, the keystone of Prime Minister Koizumi's platform, is voted down in the House of Councillors. Later in the day, Koizumi announces the dissolution of the House of Representatives and snap elections to be held the following month.7
August 24: The Tsukuba Express line opens.

September

September 11: Following a general election, the Liberal Democratic Party wins the largest House of Representatives majority in postwar history, holding a two-thirds supermajority along with coalition partner New Komeito.
September 17: Seiji Maehara defeats Naoto Kan for the presidency of the Democratic Party of Japan.
September 21: Koizumi is re-elected as prime minister at an extraordinary session of the Diet.
September 25: Expo 2005 ends.

October

October 1: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is formed by the merger of two Japanese banking conglomerates.
October 14: The Postal Privatisation Bill enters the Diet.
October 17: Koizumi visits Yasukuni Shrine for the first time since 2004.
October 31: Koizumi reshuffles his cabinet, naming Shinzo Abe as Chief Cabinet Secretary, Heizo Takenaka as Minister of Internal Affairs and Taro Aso as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

November

November 15: Princess Sayako marries commoner Yoshiki Kuroda, thus giving up her imperial title.
November 17: Structural Calculation Forgery Problem is discovered, and it becomes a serious social problem.

December

December 25: An express train bound for the city of Niigata, Niigata Prefecture derails due to strong winds in Shonai, Yamagata Prefecture, killing 5 and injuring at least 33.

Date unknown

Japanese official abandoned national project and development of superconducting passenger ferry Techno Superliner, due to high fuel cost. ^{[citation needed]}