Today in Tokyo History
Historical Events
Results 1 - 86 of 86
1635-08-03 - The third of the Tokugawa shoguns, Iemitsu, establishes the system of alternate attendance (sankin kotai) by which the feudal daimyō are required to spend one year at Edo Castle in Tokyo and one year back home at their feudal manor, while their families remained in Tokyo as virtual political hostages. (Traditional Japanese Date: June 21, 1635).
1703-02-04 - In Edo (now Tokyo), 46 of the Forty-Seven Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as recompense for avenging their master's death.
1703-12-30 - Tokyo hit by Earthquake; about 37,000 die
1853-07-08 - Commodore Matthew Perry sails his frigate Susquehanna into Tokyo Bay
1857-03-21 - Earthquake hits Tokyo; about 107,000 die
1867-04-25 - Tokyo opens for foreign trade
1905-05-17 - Waseda U of Tokyo defeats LA High School 5-3 in baseball
1908-07-25 - Ajinomoto is founded. Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in Konbu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it.
1909-08-18 - Mayor of Tokyo Yukio Ozaki presents Washington, D.C. with 2,000 cherry trees, which President Taft decides to plant near the Potomac River.
1912-08-05 - Japan's first taxicab service begins in Ginza, Tokyo.
1913-12-06 - White Sox beat Giants 9-4 in exhibition game in Tokyo
1921-11-04 - Japanese Prime Minister Hara Takashi is assassinated in Tokyo.
1923-09-01 - 7.9 earthquake strikes Tokyo & Yokohama, kills 142,000
1932-05-26 - Admiral Makoto Saito forms parliament in Tokyo
1934-11-02 - Babe Ruth tours Tokyo Japan
1936-04-29 - 1st pro baseball game in Japan is played Nagoya defeats Daitokyo, 8-5
1936-05-21 - Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of Tokyo for days with her dead lover's severed genitals in her hand. Her story soon becomes one of Japan's most notorious scandals.
1936-07-31 - Tokyo Japan is awarded the 1940 Olympics (later cancelled)
1938-09-03 - 1940 Olympic site changed from Tokyo Japan to Helsinki Finland
1941-10-18 - Spy Richard Sorge arrested in Tokyo
1942-03-27 - Japan forces Java to use "Tokyo time" 1½ hour forward
1942-04-18 - James H Doolittle bombs Tokyo & other Japanese cities
1944-11-24 - US bombers based on Saipan, begin 1st attack on Tokyo
1945-02-25 - US aircraft carriers attack Tokyo
1945-03-09 - 334 US B-29 Superfortresses attack Tokyo with 120,000 fire bomb
1945-03-10 - Tokyo in fire after night time B-29 bombing
1945-03-10 - The Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting firestorm kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.
1945-04-14 - American planes bombed Tokyo & damaged the Imperial Palace
1945-05-26 - US drop fire bombs on Tokyo
1945-06-25 - Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo announce fall of Okinawa
1946-04-29 - 28 former Jap leaders indicted in Tokyo as war criminals
1946-05-03 - International military tribunal in Tokyo begins
1946-05-07 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with around 20 employees.
1946-06-03 - Intl Milt Tribunal opens in Tokyo against 28 Japanese war criminals
1947-09-15 - Typhoon Kathleen hit Tone River, Saitama and Tokyo area, killing at least 1,930 and injuring 1,750..
1947-09-16 - Typhoon Kathleen hit Saitama, Tokyo and Tone River erea, at least 1,930 killed.
1949-10-06 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino (Tokyo Rose) sentenced to 10 years & $10,000 fine
1953-06-18 - USAF C124 Globemaster crashes near Tokyo killing 129 servicemen
1955-08-07 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, the precursor to Sony, begins selling its first transistor radios in Japan.
1956-05-05 - World championships of judo are 1st held, in Tokyo
1958-09-08 - Paul Anka opens Asian tour in Tokyo
1962-05-03 - Express train crashed into wreckage of a commuter train & a freight, killing 163, injuring 400 (Tokyo, Japan)
1964-10-10 - 18th modern Olympic games opens in Tokyo
1964-10-24 - 18th Olympic games close at Tokyo, Japan
1966-03-04 - Canadian Pacific airliner explodes on landing at Tokyo, 64 die
1966-06-30 - Beatles land in Tokyo for a concert tour
1968-12-10 - Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", occurs in Tokyo.
1974-12-09 - Jack Brisco beats Giant Baba in Tokyo, to become NWA wrestling champ
1976-04-26 - Pan Am begins non-stop flights NYC-Tokyo
1976-08-16 - St Louis Cards beat San Diego Chargers 20-10 in Tokyo (NFL expo)
1977-01-19 - Pres Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (Tokyo Rose)
1977-03-03 - Ice Pairs Champs at Tokyo won by Irina Rodnina/Alexandr Zaitsev (URS)
1977-03-03 - Men's Figure Skating Champions in Tokyo won by Vladimir Kovalev (USSR)
1977-03-03 - Worlds Ladies Fig Skating Champ in Tokyo won by Linda Fratianne (USA)
1979-01-30 - Varig 707-323C freighter, flown by the same commander as Flight 820, disappears over the Pacific Ocean 30 minutes after taking off from Tokyo.
1979-03-26 - Padres & Giants announce plans to play exhibition series in Tokyo but Giant players reject it
1980-01-16 - Paul McCartney jailed in Tokyo for 10 days on marijuana possession
1980-01-25 - Paul McCartney is released from Tokyo jail & deported
1983-04-15 - Tokyo Disneyland opens
1985-03-08 - Ice Dance Championship at Tokyo won by Bestemianova & Bukin (URS)
1985-03-09 - Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Tokyo won by Katarina Witt (GDR)
1985-03-10 - Ice Pairs Championship at Tokyo won by Elena Valova & O Vasiliev (URS)
1985-03-10 - Mens Figure Skating Championship in Tokyo won by Alexandr Fadeev (URS)
1987-07-17 - "Les Miserables," opens at Imperial Theatre, Tokyo
1988-11-05 - Japan beats MLB all stars 2-1 in Tokyo (Game 1 of 7)
1988-11-10 - MLB All-Star team beats Japan 3-1 in Tokyo (Game 5 of 7)
1988-11-12 - Japan beats MLB All-Star team 5-4 in Tokyo (Game 6 of 7)
1989-10-09 - 27th Tennis Fed Cup: USA beats Spain in Tokyo Japan (3-0)
1989-11-29 - 8th Largest wrestling crowd (60,000-Tokyo Dome)
1990-02-10 - 6th Largest wrestling crowd (63,900-Tokyo Dome)
1991-03-21 - Largest wrestling crowd in Japan (64,500) at Tokyo Dome
1992-01-04 - 8th largest wrestling crowd (60,000-Tokyo Dome)
1993-01-04 - 7th largest wrestling crowd (63,500-Tokyo Dome)
1993-08-27 - The Rainbow Bridge, connecting Tokyo's Shibaura and the island of Odaiba, is completed.
1994-01-04 - 10th largest wrestling crowd (58,000-Tokyo Dome)
1994-03-26 - Yuka Sato of Japan wins world figure skating championship in Tokyo
1994-07-07 - "Les Miserables," opens at Imperial Theatre, Tokyo
1994-08-03 - 102.4°F (39.1°C) in Tokyo Japan: record
1995-03-20 - Poison Gas released in Tokyo subway 12 killed, 4,700 injured
1995-03-28 - World's largest bank-Japan's Mitsubishi Bank & Bank of Tokyo merge
1995-05-16 - Japanese police arrest cult leader Shoko Asahara & charged him with Nerve-gas attack on Tokyo's subways two months earlier
1995-09-14 - Body Worlds opens in Tokyo, Japan
1999-07-23 - ANA Flight 61 is hijacked in Tokyo, Japan.
1999-09-30 - Japan's worst nuclear accident at a uranium reprocessing facility in Tōkai-mura, northeast of Tokyo.
2004-09-30 - The first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat are taken 600 miles south of Tokyo.
2006-12-04 - An adult giant squid is caught on video by Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.
Famous Birthdays
Results 1 - 29 of 29
1861-02-13 - Uchimura Kanzo, Tokyo, religious writer (How I Became a Christian)
1873-08-03 - Albert MLA de Bassompierre, Belgian ambassador to Tokyo (1921-39)
1894-12-19 - Yoshida Isoya, Tokyo Japan, architect (modern sukiya style)
1895-10-04 - Richard Sorge, German spy for USSR in Tokyo (WW II)
1896-12-14 - James H Doolittle, USAF General (Raid on Tokyo 1942)
1910-03-23 - Akira Kurosawa, Tokyo Japan, director (7 Samurai, Living)
1912-03-04 - John Garfield, NYC, actor (Air Force, Destination: Tokyo, Juarez)
1913-07-29 - Stephen McNally, NYC, actor (Split Second, 30 Seconds over Tokyo)
1913-11-28 - Hugo Pos, Suriname/Neth WW II prosecutor of minor war crimes Tokyo
1916-07-01 - Olivia de Havilland, Tokyo Japan, actress (Adventures of Robin Hood)
1916-07-04 - Tokyo Rose, [Iva Toguri D'Aquino], propagandist (WW II)
1917-10-22 - Joan Fontaine, Tokyo Japan, actress (Gunga Din, Ivanhoe, Rebecca)
1919-06-05 - Akeo Watanabe, Tokyo Japan, conductor (Nippon Phil Orch 1956-68)
1924-03-07 - Kobo Abe, Tokyo Japan, playwright (Woman, the Dunes)
1930-10-08 - Toru Takemitsu, Tokyo Japan, composer (Ki No Kyoko)
1932-09-30 - Shintaro Ishihara, Japanese author and politician (Governor of Tokyo)
1933-02-18 - Yoko Ono Lennon, [Mrs John Lennon], Tokyo Japan, vocalist(?)
1939-12-16 - Liv Ullman, Tokyo Japan, actress (Cries & Whispers, 40 Carats)
1941-06-02 - Oda Mayumi, Tokyo, resident artist (Green Gulch Zen Center)
1948-01-18 - Takeshi Kitano, Tokyo Japan, actor (Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence)
1950-02-04 - Pamela Franklin, Tokyo Japan, actress (Satan's School for Girls)
1954-09-18 - Takao Doi, Tokyo Japan, astronaut (STS 87)
1958-08-27 - Yoshinori Mizumaki, Tokyo Japan, PGA golfer (1994 Byron Nelson-2nd)
1965-02-01 - Brandon Lee, Emerson Colo, actor (Showdown in Little Tokyo)
1967-11-06 - Shuzo Matsuoka, Tokyo Japan, tennis star (1995 USTA/Binghampton)
1969-08-13 - Midori Ito, Tokyo Japan, ice skater (Oly-silver-92)
1972-10-11 - Kyoko Ina, Tokyo Japan, figure skater (1993 North Atlantic Sr champ)
1975-07-05 - Ai Sugiyama, Tokyo Japan, tennis star
1980-05-06 - Kasumi Takahashi, Tokyo Japan, Australian rhythmic gymnast (Oly-96)
Famous Deaths
Results 1 - 9 of 9
1944-11-07 - Richard Sorge & Ozaki, spies, hanged in Tokyo
1956-04-02 - Albert MLA de Bassompierre, Belgium ambassador to Tokyo, dies at 82
1966-07-12 - D T Suzuki, Zen Buddhism scholar, dies in Tokyo Japan at 96
1970-12-06 - Thomas S Power, USAF-gen (Raid on Tokyo-March 1945), dies at 65
1973-11-23 - Sessue Hayakawa, actor (Tokyo Joe), dies of cerebral thrombosis at 83
1987-03-16 - Scott McKay, actor (Guest in House, 30 Seconds over Tokyo), dies at 71
1991-11-23 - Ken Uehara, actor (Honolulu-Tokyo), dies of heart failure at 82
1993-09-27 - James H Doolittle, US air force general (Tokyo 1942), dies at 96
2006-09-26 - Iva Toguri D'Aquino, alleged Tokyo Rose (b. 1916)
