A comedy troupe called The Newspaper has recently been lampooning Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's performance at the last G-8 summit. According to the weekly magazine Aera, in one skit, a member dressed as Koizumi explains why he committed Japanese troops to a multinational force without first consulting the Diet. "President Bush said something to me, but I couldn't understand, so I just said 'OK.' When I found out I'd agreed to commit troops, I was as shocked as you were."

The real Koizumi's explanation is no less strange. He said that he couldn't possibly tell the president of the United States that he would have to go back to Japan and check with the Diet before he gave him his answer. In other words, he had to give the appearance of being decisive, even if it meant breaking faith with the people he served.

It is this "light" (karui) attitude that is said to have hurt Koizumi and the Liberal Democratic Party in this month's election. In addition to the summit faux pas (there was more than one), Koizumi offended many people when, during last spring's Pension Follies, he dismissed as unimportant the fact that he had joined a company pension program in the '70s without actually working for the company. "There are many kinds of company employees," he said, paraphrasing a line from a famous pop song in a joking manner. The line would be used against him by his opponents, who cited it as proof that he didn't take anything seriously. This attitude has since morphed into defiance. Koizumi has increasingly used the line in speeches, emphasizing the fact that he doesn't care what anyone thinks.