NHK gave top play to a report that meetings of the GOJ subcommittee and taskforce on the new coronavirus will be held for the first time today under Prime Minister Suga. All commercial networks led with reports that former pop star Tatsuya Yamaguchi, who was arrested on Tuesday for drunk driving, was released on Thursday. 

Top stories in national dailies included the Defense Ministry’s presentation to the LDP of three offshore alternatives to the Aegis Ashore plan (Mainichi), a GOJ plan to promote the digitalization of the central and local governments (Sankei), an increase in the use of renewable energy in Japan (Asahi), a planned merger between Mitsubishi UFJ Lease and Hitachi Capital in 2021 (Nikkei), and survey results showing that half of schoolteachers disciplined for obscene acts over the five years through FY2019 targeted their own students (Yomiuri).