In Nagatacho, Japan’s political heart, there is a saying: “one inch ahead is darkness” — the situation changes with dizzying speed.
Tuesday night might rank as one of the best examples, as one media organization after another reported that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was considering dissolving the Diet in mid-September, thereby setting a general election in mid-October, ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party leadership contest scheduled for Sept. 29.
Within a few hours of Wednesday’s morning papers hitting newsstands, Suga dispelled such notions and underscored that the coronavirus response remains the administration’s “highest priority.”