What happened
Opposition parties are stepping up criticism of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for missing an online G7 summit in early October, frustrated by vague explanations from her and the Foreign Ministry.
Why it matters
The opposition is using the vague explanations to grill the administration, with some suspecting the prime minister skipped the talks to attend a dinner at her official residence just before the session.
Summaries like this, every morning.
The dispute centers on an online G7 summit in early October that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi did not attend. Opposition parties say the explanations offered by Takaichi, who also leads the Liberal Democratic Party, and by the Foreign Ministry have been vague, and they are now using that vagueness to press the administration.
Suspicion has focused on timing. A dinner meeting with LDP Vice President Taro Aso and other party executives was held at the prime minister's official residence just before the online G7 session, and some suspect that is why Takaichi skipped the talks. The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union.
The opposition's next steps and the government's possible response are not detailed, so the immediate effect is a political pressure campaign rather than a resolved explanation.
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