2017 in Japan

• January 3, Shigeru Kōyama, actor (b. 1929)
• January 6, Kosei Kamo, tennis player (b. 1932)
• January 15, Kozo Kinomoto, football player (b. 1949)
• January 17, Tokio Kano, politician (b. 1935)
• January 21, Hiroki Matsukata, actor (b. 1942)
• January 22, Masaya Nakamura, businessman (b. 1925)
• January 25, Shunji Fujimura, actor (b. 1934)

• February 2, Shunichiro Okano, football player (b. 1931)
• February 3
  • Shumon Miura, novelist (b. 1926)
  • Yoshiro Hayashi, politician (b. 1927)
• February 7, Miho Nakayama, comedian (b. 1938)
• February 8
  • Rina Matsuno, singer (b. 1998)
  • Yoshio Tsuchiya, actor (b. 1927)
• February 10, Tsuyoshi Yamanaka, swimmer (b. 1939)
• February 11, Jiro Taniguchi, manga artist (b. 1947)
• February 13, Seijun Suzuki, filmmaker (b. 1923)
• February 19, Kyoko Hayashi, author (b. 1930)
• February 24, Fumio Karashima, jazz pianist (b. 1948)
• February 25, Toshio Nakanishi, musician (b. 1956)

• March 1
  • Hiroshi Kamayatsu, musician (b. 1939)
  • Yasuyuki Kuwahara, football player (b. 1942)
• March 4, Takashi Inoue, actor (b. 1960)
• March 7
  • Yoshiyuki Arai, politician (b. 1934)
  • Yukinori Miyabe, speed skater (b. 1968)
• March 9, Kasugafuji Akihiro, sumo wrestler (b. 1966)
• March 13
  • Hiroto Muraoka, football player (b. 1931)
  • Morihiro Hashimoto, darts player (b. 1977)
• March 14, Tsunehiko Watase, actor (b. 1944)
• March 19, Tomiko Okazaki, politician (b. 1944)
• March 20, Shuntaro Hida, physician (b. 1917)
• March 22, Daisuke Satō, writer (b. 1964)

• April 1
  • Shigeaki Uno, political scientist (b. 1930)
  • Ikutaro Kakehashi, engineer, entrepreneur (b. 1930)
• April 5
  • Makoto Ōoka, poet (b. 1931)
  • Ryo Kagawa, folk singer (b. 1947)
• April 12
  • Toshio Matsumoto, film director (b. 1932)
  • Peggy Hayama, singer (b. 1933)
• April 13, Norio Shioyama, animator (b. 1940)
• April 17, Shōichi Watanabe, scholar (b. 1930)
• April 22
  • Hiroshi Nakai, politician (b. 1942)
  • Noritoshi Kanai, businessman (b. 1923)
• April 27, Sadanoyama Shinmatsu, sumo wrestler (b. 1938)

• May 3, Yumeji Tsukioka, actress (b. 1922)
• May 7, Yoshimitsu Banno, film director (b. 1931)
• May 10, Gaisi Takeuti, mathematician (b. 1926)
• May 15, Takeshi Kusaka, actor (b. 1931)
• May 18, Tatsuya Nōmi, actor (b. 1969)
• May 23, Kaoru Yosano, politician (b. 1938)

• June 6, Keiichi Tahara, photographer (b. 1951)
• June 12, Masahide Ōta, academic, politician (b. 1925)
• June 13, Yōko Nogiwa, actress (b. 1936)
• June 22, Mao Kobayashi, newscaster (b. 1982)
• June 23, Nobuyuki Ōuchi, shogi player (b. 1941)
• June 27, Ryoichi Jinnai, businessman (b. 1927)
• June 28, Shinji Mori, baseball player (b. 1974)

• July 4, Masatoshi Yoshino, geographer, climatologist (b. 1928)
• July 8, Seiji Yokoyama, musician (b. 1935)
• July 11, Keisuke Sagawa, actor (b. 1937)
• July 18, Shigeaki Hinohara, physician (b. 1911)
• July 24, Michiko Inukai, author, philanthropist (b. 1921)
• July 25, Tarō Kimura, politician (b. 1965)

• August 1, Shōgorō Nishimura, film director (b. 1930)
• August 3, Iwao Ōtani, recording engineer (b. 1919)
• August 7, Haruo Nakajima, actor (b. 1929)
• August 18, Tadayoshi Nagashima, politician (b. 1951)
• August 28, Tsutomu Hata, politician (b. 1935)
• August 30, Sumiteru Taniguchi, activist (b. 1929)

• September 7, Tsunenori Kawai, politician (b. 1937)
• September 8, Toshihiko Nakajima, actor (b. 1962)
• September 18, Kenji Watanabe, swimmer (b. 1969)
• September 25, Yoshitomo Tokugawa, photographer (b. 1950)
• September 29, Ryūji Saikachi, voice actor (b. 1928)

• October 4, Yosihiko H. Sinoto, anthropologist (b. 1924)
• October 11, Chikara Hashimoto, baseball player (b. 1933)
• October 16, Koichi Kishi, politician (b. 1940)
• October 18, Taizo Nishimuro, businessman (b. 1935)

• November 16, Hiromi Tsuru, voice actress (b. 1960)
• November 21, Masao Sugiuchi, go player (b. 1920)

• December 2, Norihiko Hashida, musician (b. 1945)
• December 8, Atsutoshi Nishida, businessman (b. 1943)
• December 9, Heitaro Nakajima, engineer (b. 1921)
• December 14, Tamio Ōki, voice actor (b. 1928)
• December 15, Michiru Shimada, screenwriter (b. 1959)
• December 20, Kenichi Yamamoto, engineer and businessman (b. 1922)
• December 21, Chu Ishikawa, composer (b. 1966)
• December 28, Junko Maya, actress (b. 1942)
• December 30
  • Tatsuro Toyoda, businessman (b. 1929)
  • Sansho Shinsui, actor (b. 1947)

• October 22: By-elections to the National Diet; 2 vacancies as of July 31, both from the House of Representatives: Ehime 3rd district and Aomori 4th district

• January 22: Yamagata gubernatorial (w/o vote)
• January 29: Gifu gubernatorial
• March 26: Chiba gubernatorial
• April 9: Akita gubernatorial
• June 25: Shizuoka gubernatorial
• July 2: Tokyo legislative, Hyōgo gubernatorial
• August 27: Ibaraki gubernatorial^[10]
• October 22: Miyagi gubernatorial^[11]
• November 12: Hiroshima gubernatorial^[12]

Elections in the 20 designated major cities and the 23 special wards/"cities":

• January 29: Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka legislative
• February 5: Chiyoda, Tokyo mayoral
• March 26: Shizuoka, Shizuoka legislative
• April 23: Nagoya, Aichi mayoral
• May 21: Saitama, Saitama mayoral^[13]
• May 28: Chiba, Chiba mayoral^[14]
• July 23: Sendai, Miyagi mayoral^[15]
• July 30: Yokohama, Kanagawa mayoral^[16]
• September 24: Sakai, Osaka mayoral^[17]
• October 1: Okayama, Okayama mayoral^[18]
• October 22: Kawasaki, Kanagawa mayoral,^[19] Kōbe, Hyōgo mayoral^[20]
• before December 18/November 12 (ends of term; but both elections were held on the same day in 2013): Katsushika, Tokyo mayoral and legislative^[21]