This week on Tokyo on Fire:

We kick off this week with PM Shinzo Abe's surprise snap election, which definitely isn't a shrewd way to use the North Korean missile crisis to the LDP's benefit. The snap election is planned to happen next month. What does he aim to achieve in the election? Will this plan work out?

Second, North Korea has fired yet another rocket above Japan in a direct provocation to the United States. We welcome defense expert Lance Gatling to discuss exactly how much danger North Korea represents to Japan and particularly Tokyo.

Following the departure of Renho as the Democratic Party’s leader, many of the party’s lawmakers have started to leave the party. Can the LDP’s main opposition party keep it together? Can the DP make it through the upcoming snap election without disbandment or implosion?

Join host Timothy Langley and Michael Cucek in this discussion!