A lawmaker with severe physical disabilities attended his first parliamentary interpellation Thursday since being elected in July and became the first lawmaker in Japan ever to use an electronically-generated voice during a Diet session. In the session of the education, culture and science committee, Yasuhiko Funago, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a condition also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, greeted the committee using a speech synthesizer. He also asked questions through a proxy speaker. "As a newcomer, I am still inexperienced, but with everyone's assistance, I will do my best to tackle (issues)," he said at the beginning of the session. An aide then posed questions on his behalf and expressed his desire to see improvements in the learning environment for disabled children.

Speculation within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party over a possible extension of the current regular Diet session, a move that could result in a double election this summer, has grown ahead of the scheduled end of the 150-day session on June 26. The speculation has grown because the government is moving to submit a bill to revise the law on national strategic special zones in order to realize "super cities" where cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence will be fully utilized. It's believed that it will be difficult to pass the legislation during the ongoing session without an extension. The move and the possible extension is apparently aimed at setting the stage for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to dissolve the House of Representatives and arrange an election for the same date as that of a triennial election this summer for the House of Councilors. Opposition parties, as well as Komeito, the coalition partner of the LDP, are cautious over the possibility of a double election.