Overview

• At Tokyo District Court, former LDP lawmaker Yasumasa Ono pleaded not guilty in the factional funds case, with the trial centering on whether refunds were donations and whether false entries were conspired.
• Komeito’s post-election review says voter rejection of endorsements for three Abe-faction candidates tied to the slush-fund scandal hurt support, labels the situation a party crisis, and notes that election chief Ninjin Nishida offered to resign.
• JR West disclosed mistakes at 11 locations where speed-limit signs were misplaced or mislabelled, including postings 5 km/h above limits, citing data-handling flaws and insufficient checks while asserting no derailment risk.
• In Himeji, hydrogen ignited during a junior-high science experiment and shattered a flask, leading 15 students and one teacher to seek medical care, with injuries to five students and the teacher.
• Investigators plan to re-arrest two elementary-school teachers from Nagoya and Yokohama around Sept. 11 on additional charges in an alleged group that shared secretly taken images of girls.