NHK gave top coverage to a report that Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga is on track to win the LDP presidential election as he has secured more than 70% of the LDP Diet members’ votes and is gaining an increasing number of local votes. NTV and TBS led with reports that the GOJ will make a final decision today on whether to include travel to and from Tokyo in the “Go To Travel” campaign from October. TV Asahi led with a report that 276 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Tokyo yesterday, including a cluster at a sumo stable. Fuji TV gave top play to a report that NTT Docomo held a press conference yesterday to apologize for the unauthorized withdrawal of about 18 million yen ($170,000) from bank accounts linked to its e-money services.

Top stories in national dailies included the launch of a new opposition party (Asahi, Mainichi), a GOJ plan to establish virus testing centers in nightlife districts (Yomiuri), the GOJ plan to include travel to and from Tokyo in the “Go To Travel” campaign (Sankei), and moves by Japanese firms to focus on digital education for employees (Nikkei).