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

Top Headline

—Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Edano joined the Tokyo Rainbow Pride festival today, which is the first time this has been done by the top level of the political opposition. Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan continues to build up its grassroots progressive credibility.

Politics

—Two new political parties expected to be born tomorrow: Democratic Party for the People and a small rightwing party that will preserve the name Party of Hope.

International

—Although Prime Minister Shinzo Abe regularly speaks to other world leaders by phone, May 4 was the first time ever he held such a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Could there be a more fitting demonstration of how Sino-Japanese relations have been neglected?

—US Marines appear to be stonewalling an initiative by the Defense Ministry to send some Self-Defense Forces technicians to Futenma base to help with helicopter maintenance, after the long series of accidents.

—Japan’s first postwar overseas military base in Djibouti is gradually being expanded in both size and functions, mostly out of the eyes of the media and the public.

—North Korea: “What Japan has to remember is that it can never evade the fate of the left-out person if it behaves in a disgusting manner while repeating the same cliches about ‘sanctions’ and ‘pressure.'”

Economy

—In regard to the June 10 Niigata gubernatorial election, eyes are focused on the Democratic Party for the People to see whether or not they will support the anti-nuclear candidate. Once again, Rengo is likely to obstruct opposition unity with its pro-nuclear stance.

Technology

—Headline news in Japan is that Twitter has asked all its users in the country to change their passwords, suggesting some kind of security breach has occurred.

Society

—Today is the final day of the Tokyo Rainbow Pride festival, an event which has been growing much larger year by year.

Note: There were no separate “Today in Japan” reports issued on May 4 and May 5.

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