Events in the year 2003 in Japan.
Incumbents
Emperor: Akihito
Prime Minister: Junichiro Koizumi (L–Kanagawa) Chief Cabinet Secretary: Yasuo Fukuda (L–Gunma) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Akira Machida President of the House of Representatives: Tamisuke Watanuki (L–Toyama) until October 10, Yōhei Kōno (L–Kanagawa) from November 19 President of the House of Councillors: Hiroyuki Kurata (L–Chiba) Diet sessions: 156th (regular, January 20 to July 28), 157th (extraordinary, September 26 to October 10), 158th (special, November 21)
Governors
Aichi Prefecture: Masaaki Kanda
Akita Prefecture: Sukeshiro Terata
Aomori Prefecture: Morio Kimura (until 1 July); Shingo Mimura (starting 1 July) Chiba Prefecture: Akiko Dōmoto Ehime Prefecture: Moriyuki Kato Fukui Prefecture: Yukio Kurita (until 22 April); Issei Nishikawa (starting 23 April) Fukuoka Prefecture: Wataru Asō Fukushima Prefecture: Eisaku Satō Gifu Prefecture: Taku Kajiwara Gunma Prefecture: Hiroyuki Kodera Hiroshima Prefecture: Yūzan Fujita Hokkaido: Tatsuya Hori (until 22 April); Harumi Takahashi (starting 23 April) Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido Ibaraki Prefecture: Masaru Hashimoto Ishikawa Prefecture: Masanori Tanimoto Iwate Prefecture: Hiroya Masuda Kagawa Prefecture: Takeki Manabe Kagoshima Prefecture: Tatsurō Suga Kanagawa Prefecture: Hiroshi Okazaki (until 22 April); Shigefumi Matsuzawa (starting 23 April) Kochi Prefecture: Daijiro Hashimoto Kumamoto Prefecture: Yoshiko Shiotani Kyoto Prefecture: Keiji Yamada Mie Prefecture: Masayasu Kitagawa (until 21 April) Akihiko Noro (starting 21 April) Miyagi Prefecture: Shirō Asano Miyazaki Prefecture: Suketaka Matsukata (until 4 August); Tadahiro Ando (starting 5 August) Nagano Prefecture: Yasuo Tanaka Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko Nara Prefecture: Yoshiya Kakimoto Niigata Prefecture: Ikuo Hirayama Oita Prefecture: Morihiko Hiramatsu (until 27 April); Katsusada Hirose (starting 28 April) Okayama Prefecture: Masahiro Ishii Okinawa Prefecture: Keiichi Inamine Osaka Prefecture: Fusae Ōta Saga Prefecture: Isamu Imoto (until 22 April); Yasushi Furukawa (starting 23 April) Saitama Prefecture: until 18 July: Yoshihiko Tsuchiya 18 July-31 July: Nobuyuki Aoki starting 31 August: Kiyoshi Ueda Shiga Prefecture: Yoshitsugu Kunimatsu Shiname Prefecture: Nobuyoshi Sumita Shizuoka Prefecture: Yoshinobu Ishikawa Tochigi Prefecture: Akio Fukuda Tokushima Prefecture: Tadashi Ōta (until 30 March); Kamon Iizumi (starting 18 May) Tokyo: Shintarō Ishihara Tottori Prefecture: Yoshihiro Katayama Toyama Prefecture: Yutaka Nakaoki Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshiki Kimura Yamagata Prefecture: Kazuo Takahashi Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii Yamanashi Prefecture: Ken Amano (until 2 February); Takahiko Yamamoto (starting 2 February)
Events
January
January: Toyota launches all-new Avensis to be built in Britain. January 14: Koizumi visits the Yasukuni Shrine. January 27: All Nippon Airways Flight 908 overshoots the runway at Narita International Airport. January 29: Asashōryū Akinori becomes the first Mongol to reach the rank of yokozuna in sumo wrestling.
March
March 19: Extension of the Eidan Hanzomon Line from Suitengumae to Oshiage becomes operational. March 31: Agriculture Minister Tadamori Oshima resigns due to a farm subsidy scandal; Koizumi replaces him with Yoshiyuki Kamei.
April
April 1
The Postal Agency becomes Japan Post, a public corporation. Saitama becomes a city designated by government ordinance. Square Co., Ltd. and Enix Corporation merge to become Square Enix. April 11: An explosion at a fireworks factory in Kagoshima kills 10. April 15: Tokyo Disneyland celebrates its 20th anniversary. April 25: Grand opening of Roppongi Hills.
May
May 9: The uncrewed spacecraft Hayabusa is launched from Uchinoura Space Center.
July
July 7: Noto Airport opens. July 26: Diet of Japan authorizes the deployment of Japanese troops to Iraq.
August
August 10: Okinawa Urban Monorail opens.