Overview

• JA Group Kyoto’s Yasuhiro Nakagawa denied tax evasion and confirmed a Sept. 25 review request to the National Tax Tribunal after an Osaka tax audit; media reports say roughly ¥800 million was deemed unreported over seven years with about ¥500 million in additional taxes and penalties assessed, which he disputes.
• Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki said he will keep working to block the Henoko relocation with one year left in his term and pressed for a solution through dialogue, criticizing the project’s costs and environmental uncertainty.
• Maebashi Mayor Akira Ogawa told the city assembly she will deliver a second explanation on Oct. 2 regarding multiple hotel meetings with a married senior staffer.
• In Okinawa’s Tonaki village, former mayor Suguru Tobaru won back the post with 121 votes, defeating the incumbent by 16 as turnout reached 88.72%, and in Hokkaido’s Engaru town, incumbent Shuichi Sasaki secured a fifth term.
• The Japanese Communist Party endorsed former lower house member Kazuya Hatakeyama for the Hokkaido proportional bloc, as new analysis showed July’s Upper House turnout among people in their 30s and younger in seven Kyushu prefectures rose to an average 47.43%.