It was less than three months ago that Prime Minister Naoto Kan was flying high, defeating his political foe Ichiro Ozawa in the Democratic Party of Japan presidential election and enjoying a public support rate of better than 60 percent.
But that support has since plunged to around 20 percent after a number of political blunders, ranging from mishandling the diplomatic crisis with Beijing and the embarrassing online leak of Japan Coast Guard video clips to recent gaffes by key Cabinet ministers.
Kan will face even tougher challenges in January, with the fate of his already reeling Cabinet in the balance, observers say.