It has run the world's second-largest economy onto a sandbar that it can't get off. Kato had even hinted vaguely at joining forces with the opposition Democratic Party, a move that would have redrawn the political landscape. The LDP remains burdened with a deeply unpopular leader whose days appear to be numbered. So the coming months will see more backroom power struggles while a lame-duck Prime Minister waits for the axe to fall. Meanwhile, with the opposition parties in their wonted disarray, there is little hope Japan can throw up the kind of leadership it desperately needs to tackle its economic problems.
Japan is in a political vacuum.
Further down the road, the outlook is even murkier. The LDP is fearful of going into next year's Upper House election with Mori at the helm. But its bench isn't very deep right now. At the top of the shortlist is Yohei Kono, now serving as Foreign Minister. Bland and predictable, he has put in his time with the LDP, including a stint as party president, considered a stepping stone to the Prime Minister's job.