Events
- 1185 - The Battle of Yashima, near the island of Shikoku, takes place between Genji forces and Heike forces.
- 1897 - The Japan Times publishes its first issue.
- 1908 - The bucktooth turtle incident. A woman returning from a public bath is strangled by Ikeda Kametarō (kame means turtle in Japanese.) The crime was committed after Ikeda had been caught peeping in a woman's bathhouse. Ever since the incident, bath peepers have sometimes been referred to as "bucktooth turtles" which was Ikeda's nickname.
- 1925 - NHK radio begins test broadcasting.
- 1953 - Hatoyama Ichirō forms the Liberal Party in opposition to Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru. The Liberal Party is joined with the Reform Party the next year to form the Japan Democratic Party, and Hatoyama goes on to become prime minister in 1956.
- 1985 - The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare confirms Japan's first AIDS patient.
- 1997 - The Akita Shinkansen (bullet train) is completed, cutting the time it takes to travel from Tokyo to Akita by 48 minutes.
Births
- 1212 - Emperor Go-Horikawa (d. 1235)
- 1929 - Yayoi Kusama, painter and sculptor
- 1934 - Kyosen Ōhashi, television host and writer
- 1976 - Asako Toki, singer-songwriter
- 1979 - Takeshi Yoshioka, actor
- 1988 - Noriko Kijima, model and actress
- 1994 - Atsushi Shiramata, actor