SNA (Tokyo) — The following stories were reported today by the Shingetsu News Agency.

The Top Headline

—Here is Shinzo Abe’s New Year’s vow: “This year is a year of execution. I will implement one by one the policies I promised in the general election. Looking ahead to 2020 and beyond, I am determined to promote reform strongly toward new nation-building.”

Politics

—Coalition Komeito party still trying to convince partner Liberal Democratic Party not to waste 2018 over divisive political fights to revise the Constitution. Komeito wants the Abe government to focus on policies of economic revival.

—The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan continues to show a social media savvy that really sets it apart from any other Japanese political party, right or left.

—Shigeru Ishiba makes clear that he intends to challenge Shinzo Abe for the leadership of the ruling party in September. At present, his chances of success look very slim, but if he or someone else does topple Abe from the post of Liberal Democratic Party President, they would become Prime Minister.

—Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa declares that Shinzo Abe is more personally corrupt than was Park Geun-Hye in South Korea. He calls for the opposition parties to unite in 2018 and force Abe to resign.

International

—China suggests talks with Japan over the lifting of its ban on importing food from ten Japanese prefectures. This ban has been in place since 2011 and is supposedly to protect public health from the effects of Fukushima radiation.

Society

—The rightwing Sankei Shinbun has become an “Official Sponsor” of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. One regional paper, the Hokkaido Shinbun, is doing likewise.

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