Events
- 1845 - Japan's first match factory begins operation
- 1899 - As part of its effort to modernize, Japan passes its first copyright law
- 1904 - Russo-Japanese War: Russian troops in Korea retreat toward Manchuria followed by 100,000 Japanese troops
- 1951 - Japan participates in the First Asian Games, held in New Delhi
- 1952 - A strong earthquake from Southern Hokkaidō to Northeast Honshū (the Tokachi Earthquake) kills 307 people and destroys 3,353 homes
- 1966 - A Canadian Pacific Airlines DC-8 crashes at Haneda Airport, killing 64
- 1967 - Hawaiian sumō wrestler Takamiyama becomes the first non-Japanese wrestler to be elevated to the rank of sekitori
- 1974 - The ban on aluminum bats in high school baseball is lifted
- 1979 - Tsuneo Hasegawa conquers the northern face of Grandes Jorasses, on the border between France and Italy, during a winter solo climb
Births
- 1602 - Kanō Tan'yū (d. 1674), painter
- 1878 - Takeo Arishima (d. 1923), author and critic
- 1944 - Anthony Ichiro Sanda, Japanese-American physicist and academic
- 1951 - Linda Yamamoto, singer and actress
- 1961 - Atsuko Asano, actress
- 1961 - Mahito Ōba, voice actor
- 1971 - Satoshi Motoyama, race car driver
- 1972 - Kataoka Ainosuke VI, actor
- 1984 - Ai Iwamura, actress
- 1988 - Mikuru Uchino, model and actress
- 1991 - Aoi Nakamura, actor
Deaths
- 2002 - Ryō Hanmura (b. 1933), author