2005 was the 17th year of Heisei in Japan.
Incumbents
Events
- March 25: Expo 2005 opens in Aichi Prefecture.
- April 1: Shizuoka City is designated by government ordinance.
- April 1: The Japan-Mexico free trade agreement becomes effective.
- April 25: 107 commuters are killed in the Amagasaki rail crash near Osaka.
- 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.
- August 24: The Tsukuba Express line opens.
- September 11: In the Japan general election, 2005, 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 14: The Postal Privatization Bill enters the Diet.
- 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 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.
Statistics
- Wealthiest person in Japan: Nobutada Saji (net worth 5.8 billion USD)
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