Overview
- The 2026 World Cup draw placed Japan in Group F with the Netherlands, Tunisia and a European playoff winner, and the team has publicly set a championship target.
- Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman and Tunisia’s manager signaled respect for Japan’s strength, while Japanese fans urged the team to win all group matches and break past the round-of-16 barrier.
- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is arranging a meeting in Tokyo with Italy’s Giorgia Meloni around January 16, which would be their first face-to-face talks, according to a Japanese government official.
- Takaichi’s Diet remark that a Taiwan contingency could qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" has drawn Chinese countermeasures including travel self-restraint requests and event cancellations, with frictions still expanding.
- In Latin America, Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro announced his intention to run in next October’s presidential election, and Venezuelan opposition figure González plans to attend the Nobel ceremony honoring María Corina Machado.