Staff writer Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took the nation by surprise in late April by appointing the key foreign ministry post to Makiko Tanaka, who despite her enormous popularity with voters obviously lacked experience in foreign policy.
A month later, Tanaka is on the verge of either becoming the biggest headache for the Koizumi Cabinet or a driving force in sustaining the high public support rating the administration is enjoying.
Experts generally agree that Tanaka has so far performed poorly in her diplomatic duties, while opinions are divided over her attempts to reform the operations of the ministry, which before her arrival came under fire over an embezzlement scandal involving a ministry official accused of diverting tens of millions of yen in taxpayer money for his private use.