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North Korea launches a suspected ballistic missile towards Japan with the Japanese government warning residents in Hokkaido and Aomori prefectures to immediately seek shelter. It later landed in the Pacific. The launch comes after a series of balloon launches and placard protests from South Korea and various military exercises involving the US.
2022-10-3

The Japanese government announces that it will place Tokyo and 12 other prefectures under a quasi-state of emergency from January 21 to February 13 amid an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases due to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, with the country reporting a record for the second consecutive day of 41,487 new cases of COVID-19.
2022-01-19

Japanese health minister Norihisa Tamura says that the country has entered an "extremely frightening" stage of the pandemic as the number of cases increases in Tokyo. The government also extends the state of emergency in the capital and expands it to three surrounding prefectures and the city of Osaka from August 2 to August 31.
2021-07-30

South Korea summons the Japanese ambassador following remarks by a Japanese senior official mocking South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Moon had hinted at a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, to which the official responded that it was not a possibility and that Moon was "masturbating". South Korea states that the remarks were highly inappropriate, but the Government of Japan said that the remarks were not directed at Moon.
2021-07-17

Typhoon Haishen approaches Japan, threatening the coasts of Okinawa and the island of Kyushu. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says the government is setting up a crisis response team and urges people to take precautions. Officials compare the typhoon to Typhoon Vera, which in 1959 killed more than 5,000 people.
2020-09-5

The government of Japan approves a bill which officially acknowledges the Ainu as an indigenous people, following a non-binding resolution that was passed in 2008.
2019-02-15

The Kofu District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Japan announces nobody will be prosecuted over the collapse of the Sasago Tunnel, which killed nine and injured three. Officials say the collapse would have been difficult to predict.
2018-03-24

The Government of Japan summons the ambassador from the People's Republic of China after a flotilla of Chinese ships sail near the dispute Senkaku Islands.
2013-04-23

Using H-IIA rocket, Japan launches two spy satellites to collect sharp imagery for the government's defence and intelligence agency.
2013-01-27

A section of the Sasago Tunnel in Japan collapses trapping 30 vehicles; at least 9 people are dead.
2012-12-2