Overview

• A citizen diving group found a bone-like object at the undersea Chosei coal mine site and handed it to Yamaguchi Prefectural Police, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the government will monitor the police inspection.
• The health ministry says expert hearings since May have produced no new knowledge to ensure a safe government-led dive, and the minister reiterated that financial support for recovery is not under consideration at this time.
• The 1942 accident at Chosei killed 183 people, including 136 from the Korean Peninsula, and differing definitions of state responsibility complicate any central government role in retrieval.
• Police arrested the president and five executives of pachinko operator Delpara on suspicion of promising 3,000–4,000 yen for votes in July’s upper-house election, with investigators estimating about 250 employees cast ballots after directives relayed via store managers.
• According to sources, company leaders instructed that any rewards be disguised as overtime pay and searches are underway, while no actual disbursements have been confirmed; separately, a descendant plans a BPO complaint over an NHK wartime drama and Japan’s athletics body announced a new human-rights code.