Dear Prime Minister Naoto Kan: It has begun to seem as if whoever it was that came up with the idea of Japan's bicameral legislature was assuming that one bloc could always maintain control of both houses of the Diet. It also looks as if you are in a big mess, because the system does not appear to have been designed for the kind of situation you now have, with your Democratic Party of Japan in charge of the House of Representatives and the Liberal Democratic Party able to use its majority in the House of Councilors to block everything you try to achieve.

Quite honestly, you need to go on the offensive against these people, and remind the nation of why it decided to kick the LDP out of power in 2009.

The LDP think they have a mandate to dictate terms to you. They do not. Yes, they won 39 out of 73 House of Councilors districts seats in the election last year compared to the DPJ's 28, but you received 39 percent of the popular vote compared to their 33.4 percent. They won by pandering to an over-represented rural minority and now they dare to criticize your party, which has to do something about the huge mess that they allowed to build up.