NHK led with a report on remarks by Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Dunford on Tuesday regarding forming a coalition of the willing to ensure safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz. The general reportedly said that the protection of civilian vessels is basically the duty of the navy of each nation. NTV aired a news flash on a murder in Tahara, Aichi Prefecture, this morning. TV Asahi and TBS filed follow-up reports on the man who fled in his car when police came to search his house in Kumamoto City on Tuesday. Fuji TV reported that tourist guidebooks with figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu on the cover distributed free by Sendai are being sold online.

Main front-page stories in national papers included JCS Chairman Dunford’s remarks on the formation of a coalition, alleged illicit exports by South Korean enterprises of chemical weapons materials to pro-DPRK Middle East countries, and Japan Post’s acknowledgement that its insurance unit has engaged in improper sales to elderly people.