TOKYO – Politics in Japan went into a deep freeze in the immediate aftermath of the March 11 "triple disaster" of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. Slowly the old political standoff that had threatened to bring the government to a halt is reasserting itself.
In a way, the disaster saved Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s bacon, at least temporarily. Before the tragedy, Kan was a dead man walking. The only question seemed to be how many more weeks could he hold on to the job before he became another short-lived Japanese premier.
It's not as if Kan's handling of the disaster and its aftermath really boosted his flagging popularity. Support for the Kan cabinet still languishes at around 20 percent approval, not much different from before the earthquake struck. Huge pluralities, reaching 70 percent or more, say they disapprove of the government’s handling of the crisis.
Perhaps that is not surprising when one considers that more than two months after the quake struck thousands of people in the impacted region are still camping out in high school gymnasiums, and the four damaged nuclear power plants that have yet to be brought under control.
Kan has kept a relatively low profile during the ensuing weeks to the point of being virtually invisible, to quote his rival Ichiro Ozawa. The day after the quake he flew to Fukushima to gauge the nuclear threat at first hand, but all he earned for this effort was criticism for getting in the way of people struggling to contain the meltdown.
He didn't return to the disaster area until three weeks later, and thus was criticized for neglecting the population. This seems to be a no-win situation, except that a sense of proper timing for such things is a basic attribute of a well attuned politician.
Kan's absence from the public light means that the public face of the government during the crisis has devolved onto the chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano, who acts as the government spokesman, as Japan's premier does not have his own press secretary. He had held daily briefings, though he has changed from wearing his disaster jump suit to an ordinary coat and tie.
By most accounts the political "truce" ended on April 10, when Japanese went to the polls in local elections. Kan’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) failed to secure any of the six prefectural governorships at stake, and their numbers in local assemblies also fell (elections were postponed in the impacted region).
Since that election the reluctance to criticize the government that was apparent in the weeks immediately after earthquake, has receded. Sharp questioning from the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is to be expected, but Kan has had to endure criticism from his arch rival in the DPJ, former party president Ichiro Ozawa.
Ozawa berated Kan publicly for the "irresponsible way the cabinet is dealing with the crisis" and what he called his "invisible leadership." Ozawa continues to command a strong following among the ordinary members of parliament, many of whom he personally recruited and advanced.
Ever since the earthquake there has been loose talk about forming a grand, cross-party coalition with the LDP and other parties, possibly with LDP president Sadakau Tanigaki as prime minister and Kan serving as a deputy. There is a precedent; indeed, Kan served in such a "grand coalition" in the 1990s as health minister.
