It was a humiliating blow for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Naoto Kan, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, came out looking the stronger of the two following a recent Diet debate in which he slammed Koizumi for breaching three key policy pledges, including one to keep the issuance of government bonds below 30 trillion yen. Koizumi was left licking his wounds after being forced to apologize for countering that the breaches were "no big deal."
Koizumi's about-face, however, comes as no surprise to many observers, with some saying it is simply indicative of today's politics.