Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's fate remained unclear Wednesday amid reports — which he denied — that he would resign his post at the end of next month.
“There is absolutely no truth to what is being reported,” he told reporters Wednesday afternoon, hours after Japan and the United States reached a surprise trade agreement.
Some media outlets, including the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Mainichi Shimbun, had reported Ishiba was poised to announce his resignation in the coming weeks, with the prime minister telling close advisers he had made a decision, three days after his Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition lost its Upper House majority in an election.
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