Overview
- Parties accelerate preparations for the compressed timetable, with public notice set for Jan. 27 and voting on Feb. 8, as conservatives emphasize security and the new centrist bloc campaigns on a life‑first platform.
- Japan’s cabinet prohibited cabinet ministers, vice ministers and parliamentary secretaries from holding political fundraising parties in a move to tighten norms.
- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi criticized Chubu Electric over falsified seismic-design data at the Hamaoka nuclear plant, warning it could undermine trust in nuclear safety.
- The Yamaguchi gubernatorial election will be a three-candidate contest announced Jan. 22, raising the prospect of a conservative split ahead of the Feb. 8 vote.
- The Kofu District Court granted an injunction blocking high penalty clauses in Yamanashi’s doctor-recruitment loan program, finding the contractual terms illegal.