Overview
- Education Minister Yohei Matsumoto is set to submit a written explanation to an Upper House budget panel after a magazine alleged an extramarital affair, and the leading opposition said the claim would warrant resignation if proven.
- Prosecutors in Fukuoka began forensic detention of suspect Tatsuo Yoshii to test his criminal responsibility in the Fukuoka City Library stabbings, a review that follows injuries to three people.
- Miyazaki City announced a harassment‑prevention ordinance that starts in April and requires the mayor to order repeat abusive customers to leave offices and to set up support channels for staff.
- Gunma Bank and Daishi Hokuetsu Financial Group unveiled the name of their 2027 holding company as Gunma Niigata Financial Group and said its head office will be in Tokyo’s Marunouchi district.
- At the government’s economic council, MIT economist Olivier Blanchard and others urged Japan to balance the primary budget, which measures spending covered by revenue without new borrowing, within a few years because debt is high.