Diet sessions: 166th (regular, January 25 to July 5), 167th (extraordinary, August 7 to August 10), 168th (extraordinary, September 10 to 2008, January 15)
March 25 – Atsunami occurs on the northern coast ofJapan after anearthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 in theSea of Japan.NHK reports that 1 person has died and 40 have been injured.[3]
April 8 – Voters go to the polls inJapan for the first phase of theunified local elections including 13 gubernatorial elections, 44 prefectural assembly elections and 4 mayoral races in major cities.[5]
April 17 –Iccho Ito, the mayor ofNagasaki,Japan, is shot at least twice outside his re-election campaign headquarters. The assassin,Tetsuya Shiroo, is alleged to be a senior member of a local gang affiliated to theYamaguchi-gumicrime syndicate.[7] Itoh was taken to theNagasaki University Hospital, where he died early the next morning due to loss of blood.
April 22 – In the second phase of the unified local elections, hundreds of municipal elections and two by-elections for the national Diet are held.
