Overview
- At the Hiroshima High Court’s Matsue branch, Judge Masahiro Teramoto ruled the July Upper House election was in an “unconstitutional state” due to vote-value disparities, but rejected petitions to void the result.
- Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has, according to reporting, sought a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to break the deadlock over Japan’s abduction issue.
- Akita police said the body of 79-year-old Goto Kiyo was found in a Yuzawa mountain area with severe facial injuries and they suspect a bear attack during mushroom gathering.
- In Hokkaido’s Kaminokuni late on Nov. 3, three brown bears were reported breaking a household garbage bin and rummaging through trash, adding to a spate of regional sightings.
- Hakodate Chuo Police are investigating an SNS-style investment fraud after a man in his 50s reported losing a total of 1.7 million yen through online solicitations, while scrutiny continued of Takaichi’s policy speech for sparse mention of regional revitalization.