Crisis Chronology

JAPAN

11/26/2023

China, Japan, and South Korea agree to resume annual trilateral meetings.

11/03/2023

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is in Manila for a summit with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as Tokyo attempts to draw closer to partners in Southeast Asia to hedge against China.

09/26/2023

South Korea hosts representatives from Japan and China in an effort to reassure China that US ties do not threaten China.

05/07/2023

Japan Prime Minister Kishida meets with South Korean President Yoon as the two countries continue their rapprochement in the face of Chinese aggressive actions. It is the first visit by a Japanese leader in twelve years.

03/15/2023

Japan and South Korea hold their first summit meeting in twelve years, discussing the situation with China and North Korea. There is longstanding enmity between the two countries due to Japan colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

03/06/2023

South Korean government announces a plan to compensate Koreans who were forced to labor in Japan during Japan’s colonial rule during World War II. Victims of the forced labor protest and the opposition calls the plan humiliating. It is seen as a gesture of conciliation toward Japan, which has asserted that all compensation was made following a 1965 treaty. The enmity between the two countries has complicated US and western efforts to present a unified front against Chinese expansionism. Japan approves of the plan.

01/26/2023

China, Japan, and the Korean peninsula experience heavy snowfall and the coldest temperatures in a decade.

01/23/2023

Kishida says that Japan must reverse its falling birth rate or suffer economic consequences. Japan has the second-oldest population in the world, after Monaco.

01/13/2023

Kishida’s extended Western tour ends in the US, where he pledges to buy new arms, as he has done elsewhere on the trip. He warns against China’s aggressive policies and calls for a widely united front in Asia to counter China.

12/27/2022

Reconstruction cabinet minister is forced to resign amid allegations of mishandling political and election funds and ties to the Unification Church. He is the fourth minister to leave in two months. Parliamentary vice-minister for internal affairs also resigns. She has made derogatory remarks about sexual and ethnic minorities in the past.

12/22/2022

Inflation at its highest since 1981. Government announces budget with substantial increase in military spending to counter build-up by China.

12/22/2022

Government says it will extend the lifespan of existing nuclear plants and restart mothballed ones, in a major reversal after shutting down all nuclear power after the 2011 Fukishima nuclear plant disaster.

10/17/2022

Kishida orders an investigation into the relationship between the Unification Church and the Liberal Democratic Party members and the church’s demands for financial contributions. Kishida’s approval ratings in polls falls to a new low.

10/07/2022

North Korea launches two more missiles that land in the Sea of Japan.

10/04/2022

North Korea fires ballistic missile that passes over Japan, where government recommends that people take shelter.

08/27/2022

At the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, hosted by Tunisia, Kishida pledges $30 billion in aid to counter Chinese influence in the continent.

08/24/2022

Government says it will restart nuclear power plants and investigate building more.

08/10/2022

Kishida shakes up cabinet following revelations that Abe’s assassin was a former member of the Unification Church of South Korea (officially the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification), who killed Abe because the church bankrupted his family and believed Abe championed its activities. The Liberal Democratic Party has long been suspected of taking advice of the Unification Church. Kishida’s approval polls have plummeted recently.

07/21/2022

The central bank of Japan raises interest rates and lower economic forecast.

07/08/2022

Former president Shinzo Abe is shot and killed while speaking at a campaign event.

06/28/2022

Record heat wave.

06/07/2022

Russia suspends deal with Japan on fishing near disputed islands. Russia’s foreign ministry says Japan failed to make payments required by fishing rights agreement. Japan disputes that judgement. Japan has sanctioned Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

05/09/2022

Government announces new sanctions on Russia.

04/26/2022

Government includes in its budget an aid package of 6.2 trillion yen to help people affected by COVID, inflation, and the economic downturn caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, among other challenges.

04/18/2022

Yen losing value sharply. Combined with rising oil and commodity prices, risk of inflation grows.

03/21/2022

After Japan sides with Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of that country, Russia suspends negotiations on the Kuril Islands, which Russia seized at the end of World War II and were before part of Japan. While Prime Minister Fumio Yushida has long been seen as allied with former prime minister Kenzo Abe, Yushida has defied his mentor by resisting Abe’s recent calls for a harder line on national security. Yushida has strong approval ratings in among Japanese, who approve of sanctions against Russia, and there will be elections for the upper house of parliament in the summer.

10/31/2021

Ruling coalition retains majority

In voting today, the LDP and its coalition partner retain a comfortable majority, losing only 17 seats, a better result than most had expected.

10/14/2021

Kishida dissolves parliament and calls for new election at the end of the month.

10/12/2021

Russia rejects Japan’s claim to four islands between the two countries, the islands Japan calls Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai.

10/07/2021

Ireland drops its objection to tax reform, agreeing to increase tax rate on large multinational companies based in Ireland. Estonia also approves the global tax rate agreement, so all 38 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development have agreed to the new tax rate.

10/04/2021

Kishida, sworn in as prime minister, is set to call for new elections on 10/31.

09/29/2021

Kishida to be prime minister

Liberal Democratic Party elects Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida leader of the party and therefore the next prime minister.

09/12/2021

Japan and Vietnam sign mutual defense pact to increase cooperation.

09/08/2021

Candidates for leadership of the Liberal Democratic party include former defense minister and former foreign minister Taro Kono, who seems to be the frontrunner and is something of a maverick; former defense minister Fumio Kishida; former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba, and International Affairs minister Sanae Takaichi.

09/03/2021

Suga says he will not run for leadership of the party at the upcoming party conference due to his health. His poll ratings are below 30%, largely due to a surge in COVID-19 illness and his decisions about the Olympics. Former Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi has said she would run for the leadership position.

08/06/2021

8/6/21. Pacific Island Forum (Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Tonga and Samoa attending, with Australia and New Zealand sitting in. Other members include Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Niue, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) opens with an address by US Pres Joe Biden, who urges the Federated States of Micronesia to rejoin the group, which boycotted over disagreement with the election of the Cook Islands’ Henry Puna as Secretary General, in contravention of traditional order. Fiji president Frank Bainimarama, attempted to make amends, with little success. Kausea Natano, prime minister of Tuvalu and departing chair of the PIF, points to the climate crisis as the greatest threat to the islands. It is a contentious issue for Australia, which has refused to commit to net-zero emissions by 2050. Biden commits US to net-zero emissions. Japan’s emission of polluted water from the Fukushima plant is also a concern.

07/07/2021

Japan closes Olympics to spectators amid new COVID-19 outbreak.

06/22/2021

Government releases a large dossier relating to Masako Akagi’s work with the government. Akagi committed suicide out of guilt over his role in a possibly corrupt real estate transaction involving the wife of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, Akie Abe. The case could reflect badly on Prime Minister Suga and Finance Minister Taro Aso, who may have covered it up.

06/09/2021

Suga being widely criticized for a very slow vaccine rollout. Less than 10% of Japanese have received any vaccine. Corruption scandals from the Abe regime remain, and there is fear that the Olympics will be a superspreader event. A leadership vote for the LDP is currently scheduled for September, and new elections must be held by 10/22/21. Suga wants the general elections to come first.

06/04/2021

G-7 nations -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the US -- agree to institute a global 15% tax on businesses and steps to restrict tax havens. It will take long negotiations. Nations such as Ireland benefit from the current tax laws, which allow them to be tax havens. The new rules will have to be approved by the legislatures of the participating countries. In principle, if a German company reports its profits through an Irish subsidiary, where taxes are 5%, Germany would receive 10% of those profits.

04/25/2021

In local elections today, the ruling LDP loses three special elections to fill parliamentary seats to the Constitutional Democratic Party. Suga must call new elections before mid-October.

11/17/2020

Japan and Australia sign mutual defense agreement, partly in response to Chinese expansion in eastern Pacific.

11/15/2020

Fifteen Asia-Pacific nations sign the world's largest free-trade agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in Vietnam. It replaces the Trans-Pacific Partnership, from which the US withdrew the United States in early 2017. The countries are: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.

09/16/2020

Suga is elected prime minister.

09/14/2020

Suga is voted leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, and subsequently prime minister.

09/11/2020

UK and Japan agree on a free trade pact.

08/25/2020

Abe resigns for health reasons

Abe announces his resignation for health reasons. His supporter Yoshihide Suga is a strong contender for the position, but he has not explicitly said he is running. Others have already said they are running.

08/24/2020

Abe visits the hospital for the second time in a week. He has ulcerative colitis.

05/27/2020

Government passes a new $1.1 trillion stimulus bill that includes rent subsidies for individuals, and small and medium size businesses hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.

05/27/2020

Government passes a new $1.1 trillion stimulus bill that includes rent subsidies for individuals, and small and medium size businesses hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.

05/25/2020

Japan lifts state of emergency in Tokyo and four other regions imposed due to COVID-19 pandemic. These are the last areas under restriction.

05/18/2020

Economy falls into recession.

05/04/2020

Government extends stay-at-home order until 5/31. Japan currently has about 1500 cases and 500 deaths.

05/04/2020

Japan extends state of emergency until 5/31.

04/07/2020

Japan declares state of emergency due to COVID-19 outbreak.

03/24/2020

Japan agrees to postpone 2020 Olympics to 2021, after widespread protests by athletes.

02/27/2020

Government closes schools until March 2 school holiday week.

01/16/2020

Japan confirms its first case of COVID-19.

12/26/2019

Government approves controversial plan to send troops to Middle East to protect oil tankers.

12/09/2019

Abe insists on constitutional reform.

11/22/2019

After pressure from the US, South Korea agrees to continue an intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan. The US feared ending the pact would hamper the ability to respond to North Korea threat.

11/22/2019

South Korea halts its complaint against Japan in the World Trade Organization.

11/22/2019

South Korea halts its complaint against Japan in the World Trade Organization.

10/24/2019

After a meeting between Japan PM Shinzo Abe and South Korea PM Lee Nak-yeon, the two countries agree on the need to work together on North Korea.

10/22/2019

Emperor Naruhito is formally enthroned.

10/11/2019

Japan and South Korea begin discussions on trade disagreement.

09/11/2019

South Korea says it will file a complaint with the World Trade Organization against Japan over its export controls.

09/10/2019

Japan reported to be considering a plan to dump contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant in the ocean. The plant will run out of storage space for the water in 2022. Both North Korea and South Korea are angered, fearing that their seafood industries will be hurt. Japanese scientists say the risk is minimal.

08/21/2019

South Korea ends intelligence sharing agreement with Japan.

08/01/2019

Japan removes South Korea from trusted trade partner list.

07/21/2019

Abe reelected with reduced majority

Abe’s Liberal Democrats remain in control of the Diet, though with a smaller majority and without the two-thirds majority that Abe sought in order to revise the constitution to allow for Japan to build its military.

07/05/2019

South Korea dissolves a Japan-backed foundation initiated to resolve the dispute over women taken to Japanese brothels until the end of World War II.

07/01/2019

After South Korean court rules that Japanese companies must compensate Koreans for forced labor during the 1910-1945 colonization of the peninsula, Japan imposes export restrictions on materials South Korean companies need for semiconductors and computer displays.

06/12/2019

Abe visits Iran to shore up relationship made difficult by US and protect energy supply.

04/30/2019

Emperor Akihito formally abdicates the throne in favor of his son, now Emperor Naruhito.

12/12/2018

EU and Japan approve the world’s largest free-trade agreement.

10/26/2018

PM Abe meets with Pres Xi for a state meeting, at which they agree to several business deals and promise to improve relations. China is hoping to mend relations with Japan as its trade war with the US continues. Japan is hoping to increase its investment in Asia.

08/26/2018

Abe says he is a candidate for leader of the Liberal Democratic Party. He will be opposed by former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The election will be 9/20.

07/17/2018

EU and Japan sign the European Partnership Agreement to reduce tariffs and free up some trade between the two.

12/15/2017

Japan imposes new sanctions on North Korea.

12/07/2017

Japan and EU agree on a trade pact.

11/14/2017

China and Japan seek improved relationship on trade and North Korea, among other mutual concerns.

10/22/2017

LDP maintains supermajority

The LDP wins convincingly in Japanese elections, maintaining its supermajority with 312 seats of 465 and Abe is reelected PM. Abe is expected to try to change some of the pacifist aspects of Japan’s constitution. The Party of Hope wins 49 seats, a disappointing outcome.