Overview
- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with Upper House LDP leader Masaji Matsuyama on July 6 to press for a way to resume a stalled final Diet session caused by disputes over alleged smear videos and bill handling.
- Takaichi told the upper-house budget committee on July 6 that her Congressional Fellow résumé is accurate and rejected reports that it was merely an internship, saying she performed policy research and received a CF business card.
- The Constitutional Democratic Party’s Hokkaido chapter on July 5 resolved to field a challenger to incumbent Governor Naomichi Suzuki, signaling a clear opposition push in next spring’s unified local elections.
- Law enforcement and courts advanced major cases this week with Tokyo police arresting another teenage brother in the Machida confinement and abuse probe and Kobe District Court refusing bail for NHK Party leader Takashi Tachibana on defamation charges.
- Corporate and wider public developments included MUFG’s president saying the bank will invest more than ¥70 billion in AI over three years, Fuji Television apologizing after a lawyer found actor harassment, Politico reporting a sexual-assault allegation against a U.S. Senate candidate, and Chinese authorities continuing rescue work after tornadoes that killed 11 people.