Overview

• Chiba police referred four Choshi City employees to prosecutors on suspicion of leaking municipal bid information, with two men from local construction firms also sent on related charges.
• The MLIT Mie office acknowledged it knew since December 2021 that two flood-stop plates at Yokkaichi’s Kusunoki underground parking were broken and left unrepaired, as an expert panel opened its review after 274 cars were submerged.
• Japan’s Internal Affairs Ministry said Hyogo Prefecture’s Sumoto City will rejoin the hometown tax program in October, three and a half years after exclusion for extensive return-gift rule violations.
• The European Commission imposed anti-dumping duties of 6.9–30% for five years on certain Japanese steel sheets following its investigation, creating new headwinds for exporters.
• Ishin leader Hirofumi Yoshimura said he would entertain a request from the Liberal–Komeito government to enter coalition talks if one is made.