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

The Top Headline

—The Asahi Shinbun‘s earlier scoop is now confirmed: The Finance Ministry gave one set of Moritomo Gakuen documents to prosecutors, and then rewrote a doctored, forged version for the Diet and the public. They are expected to fess up on Monday, though no doubt with some new spin. There seems to be strong suspicion that Nobuhisa Sagawa, who resigned his post on Friday, may have been the official who personally ordered the forgery of the Moritomo Gakuen documents. This latter report remains to be confirmed.

Politics

—With a historical low voter turnout of 39%, voters in Ishikawa Prefecture unenthusiastically return Masanori Tanimoto for a 7th term as Governor. He defeated a single Communist Party-backed challenger. If he serves his full 7th term, Tanimoto will have been governor for 28 years.

—Yomiuri Shimbun poll shows 80% of the public believe the Abe government’s handling of the Moritomo Gakuen Scandal has been “inappropriate.” This Abe-friendly media outlet also shows a 6% drop in the Cabinet’s approval rating.

International

—Trump says Abe is suddenly “very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea.” More like Abe is consistently maintaining his strategic policy of abject flattery of the insecure and thin-skinned US president: “Spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea. Also discussing opening up Japan to much better trade with the U.S. Currently have a massive $100 Billion Trade Deficit. Not fair or sustainable. It will all work out!”

—Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga begins his latest mission to Washington DC, doing what he can to get US policymakers to pay attention to the democratic will of the Okinawan people regarding military bases.

—Conservative incumbent Yoshitaka Nakayama wins third term as Mayor of Ishigaki island in Okinawa. He was backed by the two ruling parties. This victory facilitates the plans for basing Ground Self-Defense Forces on the island, facing China.

Economy

—The newest game is for countries such as Japan to fall over each other begging for “exemptions” to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. Trump may be a moron, but both domestically and internationally he highlights the inability of the political establishment to function very well.

Society

—Japan marked the 7th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.

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