What also confuses me is what the DPJ thought they were getting into when they put Ozawa in the top job a year and a half ago. Some pundits are blasting Ozawa for damaging the DPJ’s credibility by even considering a power-sharing arrangement with the DPJ, saying his consideration of the deal, followed by his resignation as party president has made the DPJ less viable as a large opposition party.

I’d say that was done in April 2006. You don’t make a guy like Ozawa Ichiro president of your party because you’re idealistically pure (which the DPJ has never been anyway.) You don’t follow his politically expedient lead to an electoral victory - promising agricultural subsidies from a broke government, for example, or throwing up an untenable mix of catchy Left and Right ideas designed solely to get votes - then balk at such a path’s logical end.

What does the DPJ leadership expect, a sudden rout at the polls? Tossing the LDP out convincingly? A DPJ partnership with the LDP would not be ideal, or even all the great for getting things done, but it wouldn’t be the end of two-party government, either. If the DPJ were sincerely concerned with getting its initiatives passed, it would have jumped at the chance.

It seems to me that the DPJ has long since followed the LDP in its worst ways - doing whatever it takes to get power while showing little concern for positive improvement. Ozawa’s consideration of a coalition and his subsequent resignation are symtpoms of deeper problems within the party, not the problem itself.

I think calling the DPJ leadership’s rejection of his merger plans a “vote of no confidence” meant more that Ozawa didn’t think he’d be able to do much more if he didn’t have the lieutenants he appointed supporting him anymore.

I, too, was surprised that Ozawa had resigned. It didn’t seem likely that the coalition deal would go through, but I thought that would mean a return to politics as usual for the remainder of the extraordinary Diet session. I guess not.

As for Ozawa’s motivation, I would guess (and this is only a guess) that the combination of his poor health and the LDP’s rebound in popularity have combined to create a situation where it is simply not his advantage to be at the head of the DPJ. Add to this the fact that he lined up a way for the DPJ to have real power for the first time ever and his own guys shot him down and it’s not hard to see why Ozawa might be thinking, “Why even bother?”

Ken and I will have a new edition of TPR News up in a couple of hours with a bit more info. You’ll also be able to hear our sonorous voices again.

Ken Y-N, as for the press thing, I think, in this case, they were out to get him in a way. This would not be at all unusual for the Japanese media (especially once the Asahi and Nikkei are out of the picture). Just look at what the shukanshi did to SGI’s Daisaku Ikeda - false rape charges going on for years - because he spoke out against the LDP and gained a large measure of popularity.

In general, the Japanese media have no aversion at all to libel or blatant lies (the latter, thankfully, usually confined to the shukanshi), love snesationalism to an extent that would make Rupert Murdoch blush, and know there is no penalty for engaging in any of the above. Mix this in with the lack of investigative journalism and fact-checking rampant in the press clubs and you have conditions perfect for a rumor like “Ozawa approached Fukuda asking for a tie-up.”

Coming from a guy like Ozawa, though, it is a bit pot and kettle.

As for complaining most of the press was out to get him; during the Thatcher and Major years just about all national papers bar The Mirror and The Guardian were Tory, but John Smith then Tony Blair managed to get their acts together and now the split is definitely in Labour’s favour from a circulation point of view.

I’ve been trying to follow the coverage, especial the blog coverage, but I’m still not clear on some things.

What does this mean: “Ozawa said he viewed a coalition with the LDP as a possible chance at gaining the Lower House power necessary to fulfilling the party’s promises to the public. He was shot down by DPJ executives and, in the press conference, said this was akin to a vote of no-confidence.”

Does that mean it’s Ozawa’s way or the highway? If so, is that good or bad?

Or even if Ozawa stays and there is no coalition, was this a move by Ozawa to gain a stronger position within the DPJ? Or is it just Ozawa acting on principle?

Could this be what triggers the party realignment that so many have predicted for so long?

Is it all a secret Fukuda plot?