August 30, Thursday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradhan and Ms. Hiroko Kitadai

  1. People at a public hearing in Fukushima have criticized a plan to release water containing radioactive tritium into the ocean from the prefecture’s crippled nuclear plant.
  2. Workers have begun removing nuclear fuel at the Monju fast-breeder reactor in central Japan.
  3. A senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official has flown to Beijing with the apparent purpose of coordinating Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to China.

August 29, Wednesday, 2018 (2:00 p.m.) Read by Mr. Raja Pradhan and Ms. Mariko Kojima

  1. A U.S. newspaper is reporting that senior U.S. officials expressed irritation that Japan concealed a meeting with North Korea last month.
  2. U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis has suggested that the United States may resume military exercises with South Korea.
  3. Japan’s vice-minister for foreign affairs will travel to China on Wednesday to lay the groundwork for a possible visit to the country by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later this year.