After generations of rule, the Liberal Democratic Party was trounced by the Democratic Party of Japan in last month's Lower House elections.
Jeff Kingston weighs what went wrong, what went right — and what now for a nation whose voters are sick of 'politics as usual'?
How could the Liberal Democratic Party, which won the Lower House elections by a landslide in 2005, suffer such a drubbing in last month's Lower House elections?
On Aug. 30, Japanese voters voiced a collective "sayonara and good riddance" to a party that has been in power for more than half a century. This is an extraordinary turn of events that cannot solely be blamed on the unpopular, gaffe-prone Prime Minister Taro Aso, even if he is a deserving scapegoat.