TOKYO – Highlights of Japan-related events for Jan. 18-24:

Jan. 18 (Mon)

— Japan’s parliament to convene for 150-day regular session.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will deliver policy speech, in which he is expected to stress his determination to contain the coronavirus pandemic. During the session, the government plans to submit bills including to revise the special law on the virus to better respond to the crisis as well as legislation to establish a new digital agency.

Jan. 19 (Tues)

— Tokyo High Court to hear 1st appeal by Yuichiro Kurihara convicted over fatally abusing his 10-year-old daughter in January 2019 and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

— Japan Business Federation, known as Keidanren, to release report on management side’s policy for annual “shunto” wage talks in spring.

Jan. 20 (Wed)

— Bank of Japan to hold 2-day monetary policy meeting.

— Akutagawa, Naoki literary award winners to be announced.

Jan. 21 (Thurs)

— Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to hold press conference.

— Finance Ministry to release customs-cleared trade statistics for December, whole of 2020.

— Tokyo District Court to hand down ruling on lawmaker Anri Kawai, indicted on charge of vote-buying ahead of upper house election campaign in 2019.

While prosecutors have sought 18 months in prison for Kawai, she has pleaded not guilty, claiming she had no intention to buy votes. Her husband, former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai, is also facing a separate trial in connection with her election campaign.

— Tokyo High Court to hand down decision in appeal trial on damages suit filed by those who fled Fukushima Prefecture following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster.

A lower court ruled that negligence by the central government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. contributed to the accident and told them to pay a total of 38.55 million yen ($370,000) in damages to 62 of 137 plaintiffs.

Jan. 22 (Fri)

— U.N. treaty banning nuclear weapons to enter into force.

Fifty countries had ratified the landmark pact by late October. But Japan, the only country to have suffered the devastation of atomic bombings, decided not to sign it in consideration of its reliance on the nuclear umbrella of the United States.

— Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to release nationwide consumer price index for December, whole of 2020.

— Cabinet Office to release monthly economic report for January.

Jan. 23 (Sat)

— Half-year before opening of Tokyo Olympic Games, which were postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

— 3rd anniversary of volcano eruption of Mt. Motoshirane in Gunma Prefecture, eastern Japan, which left one person dead and 11 others injured.

Jan. 24 (Sun)

— Gubernatorial elections to be held in Yamagata and Gifu prefectures.

— Final day of New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.