Overview
- Police data show a Cabinet Office vehicle was traveling about 130 km/h with no sign of braking when it ran a red light in Tokyo’s Akasaka on Jan. 22, with dangerous-driving charges under consideration once the 69-year-old contracted driver recovers for questioning.
- TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Unit 6 remains halted after a post-restart alarm, and the plant chief says investigators suspect an inverter–control-rod mechanism setting issue, with a restart described as not far off but still without a date.
- The Bank of Japan released minutes from its July–December 2015 meetings, confirming a Dec. 18 decision to strengthen easing via expanded ETF purchases and recording dissent from board members over the central bank’s financial soundness.
- Parties tightened their campaigns after early polling snapshots, as the LDP issued an internal emergency directive and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned of a very severe environment while leaders targeted majority thresholds.
- Ruling and opposition blocs are courting voters with consumption-tax cut pledges despite market warnings about fiscal deterioration, while Keidanren’s chair urged viewing wage hikes as investment to help especially smaller firms secure sustainable funding.