JAPAN PERSPECTIVE

Japan produces the pool's most operational coverage. Kyodo News reports the LNG tanker Sohar LNG, co-owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, crossed Hormuz -- the first Japan-linked vessel and first LNG carrier to do so since the war began. The Japan Times adds that oil bypassing Hormuz will arrive in Japan from May. But 44 Japanese vessels remain stranded in the Gulf. The Japanese Shipowners Association monitors the situation day by day. PM Takaichi prepares the ground for unpopular measures without creating panic: 'no option is excluded.' The Chamber of Commerce president, Ken Kobayashi, admits 'the government will inevitably have to think about how long people must endure.' Japan is the most vulnerable G7 country to this crisis: it imports virtually all its energy from the Middle East. The Sohar LNG crossing is presented as relief, but one tanker doesn't solve the third-largest economy's dependence.