First time meeting the old intern boss in years! Glad my @asianstudiesgu friends could join me for this extraordinary opportunity to talk to LDP policy chief Hagiuda. He gave us some insight into his thoughts on Ukraine, defense, and GX.

PM Ishiba tells Nikkei in an exclusive interview that Nippon Steel will need to find a solution that maintains U.S. Steel as a U.S. company, confirming an increase in investment is the way forward rather than buyout. PM said NS CEO to meet Trump soon.

We shall see if Trump follows through on the tariff question to address the trade deficit. Also interested to see how Nippon Steel situation plays out with more investments and not a buyout.

Ishin co-leader Maehara Seiji said yesterday that the agreement with the ruling parties to effectively make public high school education free is a “kickoff [point],” indicating a desire to continue negotiating private school tuition subsidies.

MAFF Minister Eto Taku indicated today that GOJ plans to release stockpiled rice as soon as possible to address rising rice prices. MAFF to release amounts and pricing next week. A rare case stockpiles are released for reasons other than disasters.

The IMF statement also touched on the DPFP’s push to raise the income tax exemption threshold, writing that this would have to be “financed by additional revenues or savings elsewhere in the budget.”

PM Ishiba reportedly met with ex-PM Suga Yoshihide yesterday ahead of his first summit with Trump. Like Kishida, Suga provided insight into his summit experience in the United States with Biden in 2021.

Taiwanese media reported that Seki had visited Japan ahead of Chinese New Year on January 29 to meet with Nissan executives. Nissan just pulled the plug on merger talks with Honda. Foxconn could reignite interest in a deal with Nissan.

LH Steering Committee agreed today to hear from PM Ishiba on his visit to the United States on February 13, followed by Q&A with each party.

U.S. President Donald Trump met with U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt yesterday, presumably discussing the former Biden administration’s blocking of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of the company.

Here's a photo of PM Ishiba wearing a Trump hat and holding what appears to be a set of cards that C. Katayama Satsuki brought back from her visit to Washington D.C. for Trump's inauguration.

Nikkei reports on the "Abe manual" used to develop close ties with President Trump, which included memorizing vast amounts of Q&A responses on policy and graphics to depict Japan's investments in the United States. Good graphic on meetings between them.

Komeito Secretary General Nishida Makoto said on a TV program yesterday that he urged PM Ishiba to relaunch investigations to uncover the full extent of the LDP's political fundraising scandal.

Nikkei reports that the Japan-U.S. summit joint statement may focus on three pillars: economy, security, and China policy. Highlights include mention of "creating a golden age of Japan-U.S. relations" and organizing a "2+2" at the earliest convenience.

Nikkei reports that Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn could come back to negotiate a deal with Nissan now that the Nissan-Honda MOU is dead (included exclusive negotiation rights) & CEOs met to finalize end of merger talks.

Nissan CEO Uchida Makoto informed Honda CEO Mibe Toshiro today that the former plans to end its merger talks with latter. Nissan decided at its board meeting a day prior that it planned to scrap the basic merger agreement agreed upon in Dec. 2024.

DPFP deputy leader Furukawa Motohisa indicated yesterday that the party would be open to raising the income tax exemption threshold to ¥1.56 million, in line with welfare benefits. This would be a compromise from the ¥1.78 million it has demanded so far.