Overview
- JR’s Yamanote Line suspension on January 16 snarled Tokyo travel and forced bout-order changes at the New Year sumo tournament, with the operator examining the cause.
- Former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga decided not to run in the next lower house election and is preparing to formally announce his retirement from politics.
- The Health Ministry disclosed that from October through roughly three months, Japan Pension Service staff overturned doctors’ disability‑pension “grant” judgments in 11 cases, and it acknowledged record issues that could hinder redress for past denials.
- An appellate settlement at the Fukuoka High Court expanded state compensation in the hepatitis B litigation to include re‑recurrence type patients, covering about 160 people nationwide.
- Tokyo police are investigating a fatal fire in Yoyogi Park after a tent believed used by a person living on the street burned and a man’s body, thought to be in his 70s, was found.