NHK led with a report that more than 3,000 households in Niigata still have no water supply due to pipes that ruptured from the extreme cold. NTV and Fuji TV led with reports that a nine-year-old girl was killed when a vehicle plowed into a group of students in Okayama on Tuesday. TBS and TV Asahi reported on the upcoming election for the board of directors of the Japan Sumo Association.

Major front-page items in national papers included a follow-up report on the theft of virtual money on the Coincheck cryptocurrency exchange, the Abe administration’s reluctance to disclose data from email exchanges involving Prime Minister Abe and other cabinet members, a GOJ policy on legalizing the decryption of certain types of software strictly for the purpose of countering cyberattacks, and an Education Ministry plan to improve high school social studies education to teach students to make effective presentations and engage in debate on such topics as national security, territorial disputes, and Japan’s contributions to the international community.