Overnight Wall Street losses carried into Tokyo, with the Nikkei breaking 60,000 for the first time since May and closing down 3,643 yen, the third-largest drop on record. Editors tied AI and semiconductor selling to fears of tighter data-center regulation after Democrats retook Congress, noting steep falls in Taiwan and a trading halt in South Korea.
Midday focus shifted to the Diet, where the ruling coalition pushed the two-year food tax cut to 1% through the lower house for enactment by Dec. 12. Passage was marked by former Prime Minister Ishiba and three other LDP lawmakers leaving before the vote, with Prime Minister Takaichi declining comment.
Evening coverage turned to cyber defense, with Takaichi announcing an emergency package with blocking and joint rescue teams, as 128 shinkin banks restored services after a six-hour outage and Docomo detailed leaks of up to 294,839 records.