THE result of the election on July 11th, in which the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) lost control of the upper house of Japan’s Diet (parliament), is awful news not just for the prime minister, Naoto Kan, and his party. On the face of it, it is awful news for Japan as well. Mr Kan faces the prospect of being unable to get anything done. After years of economic stagnation
full lace wigs, it is tempting to conclude from yet another political failure that Japan is truly ungovernable. But at a deeper level, the vote also suggests that Japan is changing—for the better. After last August’s optimism the mood is black. Back then voters made history in a general election that kicked out the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Its last, painful
lace front wigsyears in office had been marked by sleaze, ineptitude and political gridlock. Less than a year later, when both jobs and social protection are inadequate and the national debt is soaring, the DPJ has itself been tainted by sleaze; in office it has proven inept; and the election result threatens renewed gridlock. For Mr Kan the vote is a huge setback. He came to office
Celebrity Wigs only six weeks ago, offering hope. The straight-talking man of the people seemed everything that his predecessor, the first DPJ prime minister, was not. Yukio Hatoyama, rich, quixotic and indecisive, had met his end picking a needless fight with the United States over the relocation of a military base on Okinawa and then
hair flip-flopping over how to resolve it. When he went, so too did Ichiro Ozawa, the party’s “shadow shogun”. Mr Ozawa subjugated policy and principle to winning elections with pork and deficit spending. His style closely resembled the old LDP which the DPJ had set itself against, and with both men gone, support for the DPJ grew.