1. Fire officials in Oita City in southwestern Japan say they have brought under control a large fire that broke out in a coastal area on Tuesday evening. The head of the city’s fire department, Harada Koji, reported to a disaster taskforce meeting on Thursday afternoon that the fire was confirmed to be under control in the district of Saganoseki as of 11 a.m.
2. Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has posted a photo of himself eating a Japanese-sourced sushi lunch, amid increasing tensions between Tokyo and Beijing over Taiwan. In the photo posted on his social media on Thursday, Lai said both in Japanese and Chinese that “today’s lunch is sushi and miso soup.”
3. The view is growing in Japan that it could take a while to ease tensions with China. Their rift began after a comment by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae about Taiwan earlier this month. Tokyo has indicated it is trying to maintain dialogue to keep the situation from escalating.