Saturday’s Nikkei ran a behind-the-scenes story about Japan’s announcement of its goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 46% from their 2013 level by 2030. The paper claimed that Suga at one point considered a 50% cut out of concern that President Biden might ask him at their summit on April 16 to set a 50% target. The paper asserted that the premier received a message from the United States a few days before the summit saying that the President was seeking a 50% cut from Japan and that Suga decided before departing for Washington that Japan would respond positively to a request from the President to commit to a 50% reduction in emissions. However, the President did not call for a numerical target from Japan. The paper speculated that a delay in domestic coordination with the coal and shale gas industries was the reason the President did not make such a request at the summit.