1885    Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.

1898    Ito Hirobumi begins his third term as Prime Minister of Japan.

1921    Japanese Prime Minister Hara Takashi is assassinated in Tokyo.

1932    The May 15 Incident: in an attempted Coup d'état, the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is killed.

1946    Former Prime Minister of Japan Hideki Tojo and 28 former Japanese leaders are indicted for war crimes.

1965    Japanese prime minister Eisaku Sato becomes the first post-World War II sitting prime minister to visit Okinawa.

1975    Miki Takeo makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.

1976    Former Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka is arrested on suspicion of violating foreign exchange and foreign trade laws in connection with the Lockheed bribery scandals.