Hello, welcome back to NHK Newsline. I'm Maria Sato in Tokyo.
JAPAN VOTES IN LOWER HOUSE ELECTION
It's election day in Japan. Voters are set to choose their next government.
00:00:24 話者 2
One main focus is whether the ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, can secure a majority in the lower house, or whether the opposition will gain ground and prevent that from happening.
There are 465 seats up for grabs. The benchmark for a lower house majority is 233.
In areas where heavy snow is expected, municipal governments may delay the opening of polling stations or close them earlier to ensure the safety of voters and officials.
The Internal Affairs Ministry is advising people to check the voting hours of their polling stations.
2026 ELECTION JAPAN DECIDES
00:01:06 (Maria Sato)
And our special coverage of the election starts just before 8 p.m. Sunday, Tokyo time.
Catch NHK World's Japan Decides for the latest results, deep dives, analysis, and more.
MORE SNOW FORECAST ACROSS JAPAN ON SUNDAY
Japan has seen snow dumped on many regions, especially along the Sea of Japan coast.
An alert has been issued for the prefectures of Tottori, Fukui, and Kyoto.
Snow rarely accumulates in central Tokyo, but it's now under a blanket of white.
A cold air mass caused the snowfall to increase rapidly along the Sea of Japan coast.
On voting day, officials in Tottori delayed the opening of one polling station by two hours due to heavy precipitation.
And even more snow could fall over a short period, mainly in the northern Kinki region and the Sainin region.
The Japan Meteorological Agency says the heavy snow along the Sea of Japan coast should reach its peak on Sunday night.
Heavy snow is also predicted in low-lying areas in the Kanto, Tokai, central Kinki and Kyushu regions, which normally receive little snow.
At one-point, five centimeters of snow piled up in central Tokyo.
In the 24 hours through Monday, up to 70 centimeters is expected in Niigata Prefecture, 50 centimeters in the Kinki and Hokuriku regions, and 45 centimeters in the Chugoku region.
Weather officials are calling on people to be on the alert for traffic disruptions and to take extra care to avoid slipping on ice.
There are also warning of avalanches, blackouts caused by snow on power lines and snow falling from roofs.
Around 50 flights from Haneda Airport on Sunday have been cancelled.
WEATHER
For more on the situation, here's our meteorologist, Jonathan Oh.
00:03:04 話者 3/Jonathan Oh
Hello, snow was the big story as we went through the daytime hours on Sunday.
And for those in the Kanto Koshin region, you were probably dealing with quite a bit of it, especially in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures in terms of the southern portion of the Kanto area. Guma and Tochi Prefecture also saw plenty of snowfall.
But now we turn our attention to commuting on Monday morning, especially for those of you coming into central Tokyo from the suburban areas.
While the low pressure system is pushing off toward the east and drawing all that moisture away with that cold air remains in place.
I mean, if you went outside during the day on Sunday, you definitely felt that it was chilly.
And for the snow to stay in place, it had to be at or below freezing.
Now, when we go to the overnight hours and the roadways remain that way, we can talk about patchy areas of ice. And that can lead to some problems on the roadways.
And so for those of you who are commuting into central Tokyo on Monday, make sure that you take extra time. If you're commuting by rail, make sure you check on the rail status.
Plenty of snowfall continues to be along the Sea of Japan side of the country as well.
And we're talking about an additional 30, 40, and 50 centimeters of additional snowfall over a 24-hour period into the northeastern areas of Japan as we go through the day on Monday. But check out the overnight low in Tokyo.
This is the key here. Minus 2 Monday morning.
And as we go throughout the day, the sunshine will be a big part of the story.
That will help to melt the snow and also bring temperatures up to around 9 for daytime highs. And that should be helpful for the afternoon commute.
So hopefully it won't be as dicey. But again, I want to emphasize that for those of you coming into central areas of Tokyo to take the extra precautions and make sure that you're careful on the roadways and even on the railways.
And for those of you over in places like Sapura Niigata, get ready.
More snow will be in the forecast as you go through the next few days.
Hope you stay safe wherever you are.
THAI VOTERS CAST BALLOTS IN GENERAL ELECTION
00:04:56 (Maria Sato)
People in Thailand began voting Sunday morning in the country's first general election in three years. Prime Minister Anutin Chamwirakun assumed the post last September.
The focus is on whether he will be able to stay in office.
Parties are vying for 500 seats in the lower house.
Thailand's three largest are Anutin's Phunjai Thai Party, the biggest opposition, People's Party, and the Phu Thai Party, which is close to former Prime Minister Thaksin Sinhoat.
Key topics for voters include national security policies and economic measures.
Anutin has garnered support for his hard-line stance on December's military clashes with neighboring Cambodia amid a wave of nationalist sentiment.
The People's Party is popular among young voters with its reformist policies aimed at tackling economic inequality and rampant corruption.
The Pu Thai Party still has clout in rural areas.
An opinion poll released in late January shows the People's Party having a support rate of 33.5 percent, followed by the Punjai Thai Party and the Pu Thai Party.
Analysts predict that negotiations to form a coalition government will be necessary as no party will be able to gain a majority on its own.
JAPAN WINS 3 MEDALS ON DAY 2
On the second day of the Olympic Winter Games, Japan has secured three medals.
Two were for the Snowboard Men's Big Air event.
Kimura Kira clinched the gold in his first Olympic appearance.
And the silver went to another first-timer, Kimata Ryoma.
They were the first Japanese snowboarders to bring home medals in the event.
And ski jumper Maruyama Nozomi took the bronze in the women's normal hill competition. She's also participating in the Olympics for the first time.
ANTI-ICE PROTESTS CONTINUE
Demonstrators took the streets earlier in Milan to protest the presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
There's public anger in the US following two recent fatal shootings by federal agents.
Protests are growing in Milan against a dispatch of US ICE agents.
00:07:27 話者 Protester
They are essentially like special police who have committed serious crimes.
They have no place at the Olympic Games.
00:07:37 (Maria Sato)
In the US, protests have continued and the Trump administration has withdrawn some ICE and other federal officers from Minnesota.
the crackdown on undocumented immigrants continues, involving 2,000 agents.
Our NHK crew visited Minneapolis to see what residents are facing.
Sergio Amezcua is a pastor at a church attended by many people of Hispanic descent.
He says some people, including those with resident status, cannot leave their homes for fear they might be detained. So he's delivering daily necessities to them himself.
00:08:15 話者 5/Sergio Amezcua/Pastor, DHH Church
I just want to make sure this is not ice. Oh no, this is not ice.
00:08:21 (Maria Sato)
He constantly checks to see if there are any ICE agents nearby.
Amezcua also calls people before he visits them at home.
00:08:30 話者 5
I'll check if there are any other cars, so don't come out until you see me.
00:08:39 (Maria Sato)
The church says more than 29,000 households have received this kind of aid.
There is growing support for the pastor's efforts among the local community.
00:08:57 話者 5
My goal is for our president to stop this because this is creating a humanitarian crisis in his own country and he needs to stop. We pray that he will stop.
00:09:09 (Maria Sato)
Those were the headlines for this hour.
WEATHER
♫～ 3-DAY FORECAST ～♫
And that's all for this hour on NHK Newsline. I'm Maria Sato in Tokyo.
Do stay with us on NHK World Japan.
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