2009 will be remembered as a turning point in postwar politics, a time when voters ousted the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party and put the Democratic Party of Japan in power.

2010 will see the DPJ-led coalition face its first serious electoral trial, with the Upper House election in July likely to be a make-or-break event for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

"The final battle will take place next July," DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa told reporters during a visit to China in December.