2000 Important Events
- The Millenium Boom hits
- Hideki Shirakawa wins the Nobel Prize for Science
- Sony releases the Playstation 2
2001 Important Events
- The animated movie Spirited Away reaches number one at the Japanese box office
- Japanese baseball player Ichiro gains popularity in the U.S. Major League
2002 Important Events
- Harry Potter becomes an international bestseller
- Masatoshi Koshiba wins a Nobel Prize for Physics, Koichi Tanaka wins a Nobel Prize for Chemistry
- The Soccer World Cup is jointly held in Japan and Korea
2003 Important Events
- Chijou no Hoshi by Miyuki Nakajima is a long-running hit
- The movie Odoru Daikensasen is a hit
- Sumo wrestler Asashoryu becomes the first Mongolian Yokozuna
2004 Important Events
- The ‘Kitty Ex.’ commemorative exhibition is held to mark 30 years of Hello Kitty
- Winter Sonata becomes popular, starting the Kanryu Korea boom
- The new 10,000 yen note features Yukichi Fukuzawa, the 5,000 yen note Ichiyou Higuchi, the 1,000 yen note Hideo Noguchi
2005 Important Events
- The Aichi Expo is held
- Chubu International Airport opens
- ‘Cool biz’ spreads as an anti global warming measure
- The Densha Otoko boom, born on the Internet, spreads to the cinema and TV
2006 Important Events
- Terrestrial Digital Television ‘1seg’ begins broadcasting
- The manga Nodame Cantabile is a hit, creating a classical music boom
- Japan wins the World Baseball Classic, to become number one in the world
- Shizuka Arakawa wins figure skating gold at the Torino Winter Olympics, making the ‘inner bower’ a buzzword
2007 Important Events
- The movies Cinnamon: The Movie and Nezumi Monogatari are released
- At 15 years and 8 months of age, Ryo Ishikawa becomes the youngest person ever to win the Men’s Golf Tour
- Comedian Higashi Sonomama is elected the Governor of Miyazaki Prefecture
