Overview

• Supporters of leadership contender Shinjiro Koizumi were asked to post on social media in a way critics liken to stealth marketing, drawing warnings from analysts about damage to political credibility.
• Talks among the Diet affairs chiefs of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Japan Innovation Party, and Democratic Party for the People failed to agree on a single nominee for the coming prime minister vote.
• The Immigration Services Agency reported a record 336,196 residents under the Specified Skilled Worker status as of June 30, including roughly 3,000 in the higher-skilled No. 2 category.
• Regular COVID-19 vaccinations start October 1 for people 65 and older and for 60–64 with underlying conditions, with national subsidies to municipalities ending.
• Prosecutors are set to indict former Upper House member Akira Ishii without arrest over alleged fraud involving public secretary salaries, extending scrutiny of political accountability.