Events
- 823 - Nemoto Hall on Mount Hiei is renamed Enryaku-ji. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-sixth Day of the Second Month, 823)
- 1657 - Tokugawa Mitsukuni establishes editorial institutions in Edo and Mito[disambiguation needed] that begin compiling a comprehensive history of Japan that came to be known as the History of Great Japan (Dainihonshi). It wasn't completed until 1906. (Traditional Japanese Date: Twenty-seventh Day of the Second Month, 1657)
- 1928 - The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nihon Shōkō Kaigisho) is formed.
- 1946 - Japan's first post-war elections are held, and 39 women are elected.
- 1954 - Kinugasa Teinosuke's Gate of Hell wins the Cannes Film Festival Palme d'or grand prize.
- 1959 - Crown Prince Akihito (the current emperor) marries Shōda Michiko.
- 1988 - The world's longest dual-use bridge (automobile and train), the Seto Ōhashi, is completed joining Japan's main island of Honshū with the island of Shikoku.
Births
- 1933 - Rokusuke Ei, composer and author
- 1950 - Akiko Wada, singer and actress
- 1971 - Nana Smith, American-Japanese tennis player
- 1976 - Yoshino Kimura, actress and singer
- 1979 - Tsuyoshi Domoto, singer-songwriter and actor
Film and television
- 2005 - Aikurushii begins airing on Tokyo Broadcasting System, starring Hayato Ichihara
- 2008 - Last Friends begins airing on Fuji Television, starring Masami Nagasawa, Juri Ueno, Eita, Asami Mizukawa, and Ryo Nishikido