The following is a list of events that occurred in the year 2001 in Japan . It corresponds to the year Heisei 13 (平成13年 or 平成十三年) in the Japanese calendar .
Junichiro Koizumi became prime minister in April.
February 9: The fishing boat Ehime Maru is struck by a U.S. submarine and sunk.
December 1: Princess Aiko , potential heiress to the Imperial throne, is born.
December 9: Television performer Masashi Tashiro is arrested for peeping in a male bath-house.
December 21: TIME removes Masashi Tashiro from its "Person of the Year " poll after 2channel users vote the "bad boy" performer into first place.
January 2: Wakaba Higuchi , figure skater
February 2: Maria Makino , pop singer
February 4: Fūka Haruna , actress
May 24: Noa Tsurushima , actress
May 28: Rikako Sasaki , singer
June 18: Nako Yabuki , singer
June 19: Natsumi Sakai , swimmer
June 25: Yurina Hirate , idol singer
August 4: Seishiro Kato , actor
August 31: Nana Mori , actress
October 1: Pankun , chimpanzee
October 6: Hitomi Honda , singer
November 3: Rōki Sasaki , professional baseball pitcher (Chiba Marines )[citation needed ]
December 1: Princess Aiko , the daughter and only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako
March 9: Mitsuo Kagawa , archaeologist (b. 1923 )
April 7: Yasuhira Kiyohara , lieutenant of the Imperial army (b. 1914 )
May 17: Hyōichi Kōno , adventurer (b. 1958 )
July 24: Hiroshi Tsuburaya , actor (b. 1964 )
July 28: Futaro Yamada , author (b. 1922 )
August 25: Ginzō Matsuo , voice actor (b. 1951 )
September 9: Shinji Sōmai , film director (b. 1948 )
September 28: Isao Inokuma , judoka (b. 1938 )
September 30: Takasi Tokioka , zoologist (b. 1913 )
October 11: Fuku Akino , painter (b. 1908 )[ 5]
November 7: Sachiko Hidari , film actress (b. 1930 )
November 15: Satoru Kobayashi , film director (b. 1930)
November 30: Kikutaro Baba , malacologist (b. 1905 )
December 20: Kōji Nanbara , actor (b. 1927 )
December 22: Shizue Kato , politician and activist (b. 1897 )
December 29: Takashi Asahina , conductor (b. 1908 )