Overview
- Economy Minister Akazawa said manufacturers will be allowed to sell thinner directly to construction contractors to clear distribution bottlenecks, with orders opening on June 23 to curb shortages and price rises.
- Prime Minister Takaichi told the Diet she opposes major revisions to the government’s retrial reform proposal, keeping the administration’s core plan intact as parliamentary debate continues.
- The Osaka National Tax Bureau disclosed that a staff member sent 259 taxpayer records to a person impersonating a police officer, the employee was suspended for six months, retired the same day, and has been referred for prosecution.
- In Kyogoku Town a 25-year-old agriculture official admitted to siphoning 1.292 million yen from local accounts, repaid the full amount and will face administrative discipline but no criminal prosecution.
- Fukuoka district court sentenced a 49-year-old defendant to 15 years in prison for abducting, injecting methamphetamine into, and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old last year, while sports and memorial events such as Seibu’s interleague title and the Okinawa war-dead name readings continued across the country.