Events
- 1998 - Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.
Births
- 1900 - Yoshimaro Yamashina (d. 1989), ornithologist, founded the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology
- 1929 - Chikao Ōtsuka (d. 2015), actor and voice actor
- 1951 - Keiko Fuji (d. 2013), singer and actress
- 1968 - Ken Akamatsu, illustrator
- 1968 - Kenji Itō, composer
- 1975 - Ai Sugiyama, tennis player
- 1984 - Yu Yamada, model, actress and singer
Film and television
- 2005 - Shopping Hero begins airing on TV Asahi, starring Shunsuke Nakamura and Ayako Kawahara
- 2010 - Asu no Hikari o Tsukame begins airing on Tokai TV, starring Alice Hirose, Mayo Kawasaki, Sachi Funaki, and Yūya Shimizu
- 2014 - Ao Oni, a horror film starring Anna Iriyama