“My looks are not great... If elected, I wouldn’t have a great support rate.” This was the campaign slogan of the new prime minister of Japan - Yoshihiko Noda. Certainly if this were a general election by the Japanese public, he would not be a winner. But this was a political stalemate produced by the Diet of Japan. Good luck. Noda at best will keep the peace and the pace of recovery going for at least a year. It seems like most governments around the world, the Japanese Diet is also "broken". The Japanese people are at all time high of discontent towards their legislators, but still there is not enough pressure against the representatives to do anything radical for change or growth. The governing model is broken indeed and some leadership must emerge. Perhaps it is time for a true people's party to emerge spurred by the disaster and recovery form the tsunami. This is an opportunity for the US to fully engage Japan, it best peace-loving ally in the world, to create whole new industries, cities, jobs, and innovate traditional businesses. After the tsunami, Japan does not look so great, but with support - the recovery is full speed ahead.
Here's some expert Q&A from Prof. Michael Green at CSIS:
http://csis.org/publication/japans-new-prime-minister
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