Tomoyasu Website 2026

1. People in Japan will head to the polls on February 8. Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae says she is seeking a stronger mandate for her coalition government.  The starting gun for the snap race will fire next week, after Takaichi dissolves the Lower House this Friday. Speaking on Monday, she said her Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, are aiming for a majority.
2. Two opposition parties in Japan have announced the platform of the new party they have jointly formed.  The Centrist Reform Alliance says it will push for policies that put top priority on people. The Centrist Reform Alliance says what is now required is the power of centrist politics to steadily push people-first policies forward by repeatedly building consensus, rather than politics that incites confrontation and deepens rifts.
3. Thailand’s foreign minister said his government has sent monitors to observe the general election organized by the military authorities of neighboring Myanmar. Pro-democracy groups have been excluded from taking part in the election.  The international community has widely condemned the vote as a sham.

1. The prime ministers of Japan and Italy have agreed to elevate bilateral ties.  They decided to strengthen collaboration to build resilient supply chains and set up a body to discuss cooperation in space.
2. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says she gave her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump.
3. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s demand to take over Greenland. She warned on Thursday that America’s ambition remains “intact.” The two sides agreed to form “a high-level working group” to resolve the issue.

1. Two opposition parties in Japan have agreed to form a new party in the Lower House ahead of a possible snap election next month. The move comes after Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae conveyed her plans to dissolve the Lower House during the upcoming Diet session, which starts next week.  The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is the country’s largest opposition group.  President Noda Yoshihiko met with Saito Tstsuo, Chief Presentative of Komeito, which had partnered with the Liberal Democratic Party in its ruling coalition until last October.
2. US President Donald Trump says he has been informed that authorities in Iran have stopped killing anti-government protesters and that they do not plan to conduct executions.  But he notes that he will watch and see what happens.
3. A wildfire that started last week in Uenohara City in Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo, is spreading in neighboring Otsuki City.  There is currently no prospect for extinguishing the fire as there is no forecast for consistent rainfall in the area.

1. Sources say Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae is arranging to meet senior officials of the ruling coalition parties as early as Wednesday.  She is likely to convey her plan to call a snap general election. Takaichi is expected to tell officials of her Liberal Democratic Party and its partner, Japan Innovation Party, that she plans to dissolve the Lower House at the start of the Diet’s regular session.
2. An annual winter event of lighting up traditional thatched-roof houses has begun at a UNESCO World Heritage site in central Japan. This year’s illumination started on Monday in Gifu Prefecture’s Shirakawa Village, a popular tourist destination with rustic Gassho-style houses.
3. The head of Japan’s biggest business lobby has voiced strong regret over China’s decision to step up controls on exports of goods to Japan for both military and civilian use.  Tsutsui Yoshinobu, chair of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, said China is only targeting Japan with the export restrictions on dual-use goods, and called them “an obvious act of economic coercion.”

1. Japan’s main equity index surged on Tuesday, fueled by hopes a snap election will boost stimulus spending.  The Nikkei 225 closed above the 53,000 mark for the first time ever. Buying jumped at the opening following reports over the three-day weekend that Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae may dissolve the Lower House.
2. Finance Ministers of the Group of Seven countries and other nations have agreed to quickly take steps to diversify supply chains of critical minerals.  That includes rare earth elements. The United States convened the meeting of finance chiefs, with Katayama Satsuki representing Japan.  Ministers of Australia, Mexico, India and South Korea joined their G7 counterparts.  The talks come as China increasingly asserts its dominant position in supplying key minerals.
3. The United States has condemned Russia for attacking Ukraine earlier this month with its latest intermediate-range ballistic missile.

1. US President Donald Trump has said his country is looking at “some very strong options” against Iran, where the death toll from clashes between anti-government protesters and security personnel is reportedly rising.
2. Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu met with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in the West Bank on Sunday.  Motegi showed Japan’s support for a future Palestinian state, while calling for steady progress in the reform of the Palestinian Authority.
3. Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu has visited Israel and held talks with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar.  Motegi called for the steady implementation of a US-led peace plan for the Gaza Strip, while pledging a proactive role by Japan in the strip’s reconstruction.

1. Germany’s head of state says democracy is in unprecedented danger amid a “breach of values” by the US following the military operation in Venezuela and other actions by President Donald Trump’s administration.
2. US President Donald Trump has warned that the United States could take military action if Iranian authorities kill their citizens including those taking to the streets.
3. A bushfire has broken out on a mountain in Japan’s Yamanashi Prefecture, which is located west of Tokyo.

1. The US administration of President Donald Trump says it will indefinitely control sales of crude oil produced in Venezuela, which is said to have one of the world’s largest oil reserves. The Trump administration has made it clear that it will be involved in running Venezuela and managing its crude oil sales.
2. Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Minoru says Tokyo will closely examine the impact of an anti-dumping probe by China into imports of a chip-related chemical.
3. The White House says President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum that authorizes the withdrawal of the United States from 66 international organizations, conventions and treaties.

1. Cooking school students in central Japan’s Fukui Prefecture have learned how to make traditional Japanese rice porridge. The dish is eaten by people who want to have good health throughout the year. A culinary institute in the town of Eiheiji holds a class every year to teach students how to make the traditional Japanese dish. The class was held on Tuesday, one day ahead of “the feast of seven herbs of health.” The feast is held annually on January 7 in Japan.  The event is held on the belief that eating rice gruel cooked with seven spring herbs will ward off illnesses.
2. The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations have agreed to collaborate and maintain close communication after discussing the Venezuelan situation over the phone.
3. The US government has announced it will launch a joint mechanism with Israel and Syria to ease tensions between the two Middle Eastern countries.

1. Strong earthquakes struck western Japan Tuesday morning.  There is no tsunami threat.  Officials are calling on residents to stay alert for further possible earthquakes. The Japan Meteorological Agency says the first had a magnitude of 6.4. It occurred in Tottori and Shimane prefectures at 10:18 a.m. The epicenter was in eastern Shimane at a depth of 11 kilometers.
2. Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae stated that South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni plan to visit Japan in the near future. Disclosing the planned visits by the two foreign leaders, Takaichi said she wants to deepen trust in the relations between countries that share the values of freedom and democracy.
3. China’s Commerce Ministry announced on Tuesday that it will strengthen control over exports to Japan of dual-use items, which can serve both commercial and military needs. The ministry said it will ban exports to Japanese military users, for military purposes and for other end-user purposes that could enhance Japan’s military capabilities.  A ministry spokesperson explained that the ban, effective from Tuesday, aims to safeguard China’s national security and interests.