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| 1993 |
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| The slump continued as the yen grew ever stronger on international markets. As a result, Japanese goods became more difficult to sell overseas, which further hurt the domestic economy. There were major layoffs, heretofore considered a U.S. industrial phenomenon to which Japan was immune, the first since the end of the war. The “lifetime employment” ideal of Japanese management was in a state of havoc. | 1 |
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| June 9 |
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| Crown Prince Naruhito married commoner Owada Masako. | 2 |
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| June 19 |
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| Miyazawa received a vote of no confidence; the LDP was in shambles. | 3 |
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| July 7 |
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| The Group of Seven held a summit in Tokyo. | 4 |
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| Aug. 5 |
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| The Miyazawa government resigned. | 5 |
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| Aug. 7 |
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| After the LDP lost control of the Diet, through a coalition of parties Hosokawa Morihiro was elected prime minister by the Diet. Doi Takako (b. 1928), former head of the Socialist Party and possibly the strongest woman political figure in Japan, became Speaker of the House. Hosokawa promised extensive political and economic reforms. Hosokawa proved extremely popular with the public but not with the entrenched politicians and bureaucracy he wished to shake up. | 6 |
| Japan was now the most densely populated country in the world; land values made Japan more valuable than the entire U.S.; Japanese men and women looked forward to a longer life expectancy than any people in the world; and a new conservatism could be felt in the air, a pride or satisfaction in Japan's great postwar economic turnaround. | 7 |
In film, Japanese directors such as Akira Kurosawa (b. 1910), Itami J z , and others ranked with the finest in the world, although they frequently had to seek funding outside Japan. Esteemed writers such as End Shsaku (b. 1923),  e Kenzabur (b. 1935), Abe Kb, and many others were widely read throughout the world. | 8 |
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