After his first stint as prime minister ended in frustration and ill health in 2007, Shinzo Abe headed to a Buddhist temple and took up Zen meditation.
Now, as he steels himself for three more years of battling to reform Japan's faltering economy, he's going to need it.
The chaos in the Diet and public demonstrations that accompanied last week's passage of his bills to expand the role of the military may be only a taste of what's to come for Abe as he turns his attention to an economy that has shown limited response to his resuscitation efforts.