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Years:	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

2004 was the 16th year of Heisei in Japan. It was the population "peak" of Japan—the last year in which the national population increased.

Incumbents

• Emperor: Akihito
• Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi
• Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yasuo Fukuda, Hiroyuki Hosoda
• Governor of Tokyo: Shintaro Ishihara

Events

Kyushu Shinkansen opened in March.

• January 19: Deployment of Japanese troops to Iraq begins as the first set of ground forces arrive in Samawah.
• February 27: Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara is given the death penalty.
• March 4: Famed Yomiuri Giants manager Shigeo Nagashima is hospitalized.
• March 13: First segment of the Kyushu Shinkansen opens.
• March 17: Tokyo District Court issues an injunction halting the sale of Bungei Shunju issues due to a breach of privacy suit by Makiko Tanaka.
• March 24: Chinese activists land in the Senkaku Islands and are arrested by Okinawan police.
• March 30: Nurse Daisuke Mori was sentenced to life imprisonment.^[1]
• April 1: Japan Airlines and Japan Air System merge.
• April 1: New Tokyo International Airport is privatized and renamed Narita International Airport.
• April 1: Teito Rapid Transit Authority becomes Tokyo Metro.
• April 7: Three Japanese civilians taken hostage in Iraq.
• April 8: Economist and graduate school professor Kazuhide Uekusa is arrested for trying to peep under a schoolgirl's skirt on the escalator of JR Shinagawa Station.
• May 10: Winny developer Isamu Kaneko, assistant instructer at Tokyo University, is arrested on charges of contributory copyright infringement.
• May 10: Crown Prince Naruhito denounces palace officials at a press conference, suggesting that Crown Princess Masako is physically and mentally sick.
• May 22: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visits Pyongyang to bring back 5 Japanese youths who were born while their parents were hostages in North Korea.
• June 1: A 12-year-old girl kills her classmate at a Sasebo elementary school.
• July 1: Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in Kii Mountain Range enlisted as a world heritage site.
• July 8: Naha District Court in Okinawa sentences US Marine Major Michael Brown to a suspended one-year prison term on charge of attempted rape against a Filipina.
• July 11: In elections for the Upper House. the LDP suffers a small setback.
• July 21: Koizumi meets Roh Moo-hyun at Jeju Island in South Korea.
• July 30: Chikage Ogi becomes the first female Speaker of the House of Councillors.
• August 9: An obsolete steam pipe at Mihama Nuclear Plant blows up, killing four workers.
• September 3: World Rally Championship held in Japan for the first time.
• September 17: Japanese baseball players announce a weekend strike, the first baseball strike in Japanese history.
• September 27: Koizumi reshuffles his cabinet.

The Chūetsu earthquake struck Niigata in October.

• October 20: Typhoon Tokage makes landfall in Japan.
• October 23: The Chūetsu earthquake strikes Niigata Prefecture, causing widespread damage to the area.
• November 1: Bank of Japan issues new 10,000, 5,000 and 1,000 yen banknotes.
• November 2: Japan's first new professional baseball franchise in 50 years is awarded to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
• December 24: Fukuoka Daiei Hawks are sold to Softbank and become the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

Deaths

• April 21: Den Fujita, president of McDonald's Japan
• November 6: Kensaburo Hara, politician
• December 18: Kikuko, Princess Takamatsu

Statistics

• GDP: ¥504 trillion (+1.4%)
• Nikkei 225: High 12,163.89; low 10,365.40
• Wealthiest person in Japan: Nobutada Saji (net worth 6.9 billion USD)
• Yen: High ¥101.83/USD; low ¥114.80/USD

References

1. ^ "The case of the killer nurse". Japan Today (2004-04-06). Retrieved on 2008-03-22.