NEW YORK — I was startled to receive a letter from a friend in Tokyo earlier this month accompanied by a Sankei Shimbun article by Yukio Okamoto sharply upbraiding Yukio Hatoyama.

The then next prime minister's sin was to let The New York Times carry his article that "astonished the world." According to Okamoto, Hatoyama must be faulted, among other things, for:

• Arguing that since the Cold War, U.S.-led market fundamentalism has buffeted Japan. As a result, human dignity has been lost.