Constitutional Reform Drive: Japan’s ruling LDP plus two opposition parties filed a bill to revise the referendum law for possible constitutional amendment votes, aiming to pass it during the current special Diet session—shifting remote-island ballot counting and easing polling observer rules. Energy Policy & Cost Relief: The Diet enacted a 3.11 trillion yen extra budget to blunt Middle East-driven energy-price shocks, while METI floated a plan to rebuild up to five nuclear reactors by the 2040s (and 14 by the 2050s) to keep nuclear at about 20% of power. FX & Market Politics: The yen tested the 160-per-dollar line again, prompting fresh “decisive action” warnings as Japan weighs intervention readiness; Tokyo stocks slipped as US tech weakness weighed. Security & Foreign Investment: The LDP headquarters drafted recommendations to tighten land-buying rules near security sites by “individuals of concern,” and Japan also moved to toughen foreign investment screening with a CFIUS-like review panel. AI & Research Diplomacy: Japan became the first overseas partner in the US “Genesis Mission,” expanding joint AI-driven science research, as Tokyo also pushes hydrogen transport and other energy-transition projects. Legal & Courts: A Tokyo court gave a suspended sentence to a Chinese man caught repeatedly cheating on TOEIC under false identities. Culture & Memory: Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum signage is set to add clearer context on the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, including “invasion,” amid survivor and debate over other wartime atrocities.