Overview
- The National Police Agency said it asked X’s Japan unit for emergency disclosure of account data tied to posts implying harm to candidates and will launch a Lone‑Offender Threat Integration Center on Jan. 23.
- Election commissions reported delays delivering voter admission cards under the shortened timetable, and emphasized that voters can cast ballots with identity verification even without the cards.
- The Nara District Court sentenced Tetsuya Yamagami to life imprisonment for killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, concluding a closely watched trial one day earlier.
- The newly formed Centrist Reform Union held its founding meeting and named 227 first‑wave candidates, pairing the launch with a pledge to make food purchases permanently zero‑rated for consumption tax this fall.
- The Coast Guard confirmed China Coast Guard vessels near the Senkaku area for a 69th straight day, and Hiroshima’s mayor said he will attend this year’s UN review meeting of the nuclear‑ban treaty and press Tokyo to observe.