The Self-Defense Force aircraft crash dominated early reporting, with names of personnel released and witnesses reporting the plane waved before departing, followed by reports of a rapid descent one minute after takeoff. This continues yesterday's coverage of the training jet crash near Nagoya.

Economic concerns featured prominently with Aeon Card suffering ¥9.9 billion in fraud losses due to security vulnerabilities, while wage increases stagnated at 5.49% despite improvements in real estate and transportation sectors. The government considered doubling rice stockpile releases to address surging prices.

In international affairs, US-Japan tariff talks may resume next week, while Ukraine-Russia negotiations prepared to restart without Putin, whom Zelensky criticized as sending only "decorative" representatives. Defense Ministry faced scrutiny over Israeli drones being considered for deployment potentially being used in Gaza attacks.