Although a month has passed since the magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant on March 11, no one yet has a clear idea of when or how the radiation disaster will end.

But one thing is certain: Prime Minister Naoto Kan will have to take the lead in rebuilding 401 sq. km of tsunami-ravaged Tohoku — an area more than six times the size of the Yamanote loop — and help Tokyo Electric Power Co. compensate for the lives and industries hit by the nuclear crisis, a bill likely to amount to trillions of yen.

Strong political leadership and coordination will be required to meet such massive goals. But as the world closely watches each step Tokyo takes, critics are skeptical of the way the Kan administration is handling the crisis.