Following the leader

Michael Cucek catches a comment from LDP Secretary-General Ishiba Shigeru at a public appearance in Kagawa.  Ishiba said, "…

The Kan system

The Kan government has formed, having retained eleven ministers from the Hatoyama government ( as expected ). Among the new faces…

Can the DPJ legislate a new relationship with the bureaucracy?

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives began debate on the Hatoyama cabinet's bill revising the National Civil Service Law…

Building a Westminster system

"Nowadays the members of Parliament, with the exception of the few cabinet members (and a few insurgents), are normally noth…

A terrible idea from DPJ backbenchers, quickly nixed

On Wednesday Ubukata Yukio, the deputy secretary-general, Tanaka Makiko, Koizumi Junichiro's controversial foreign minister w…

Credit where credit is due

Another poll, more bad news for the Hatoyama government. In Jiji Press's February public opinion poll, the Hatoyama governmen…

Ozawa whips the DPJ and the Diet into shape

Speaking at a convention of the Osaka branch of the DPJ, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirano Hirofumi spoke succinctly of the role of…

The DPJ's quiet revolution

In a contribution to Foreign Policy 's "Think Again" feature, Paul Scalise and Devin Stewart maintain that the DPJ …