Postmasters' power if any did not work in favor of Hashimoto. We will have had a much better picture two days from now until which he will have nominated the big 3 heads of the party and all the cabinet members. This could work both ways. One likely scenario is that voters will endorse Koizumi in the upcoming Upper House elections. If Koizumi ultimately fails to deliver his promises then LDP, and by extension almost all the parties with possible exceptions of Komeito and Communists, might have ceased to exist five months from now.
Time is limited.
In September Japan will very likely have a trilemma, i.e., weakened yen, steeped yield curve, and yet more waning stock market. Let us see how hot this summer can be.