February 14, Thursday, 2019 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Ms. Yuka Matsumoto and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

  1. Preparations are taking place to have Japan’s Foreign Minister Taro Kono meet his South Korean counterpart in Germany on Friday amid deteriorating bilateral ties.
  2. Official campaigning began on Thursday for a prefectural referendum on landfill work to relocate a U.S. base within the southern Japanese prefecture.
  3. The latest GDP data shows Japan returned to growth in the latest quarter.