Was he a hero who saved eastern Japan from nuclear catastrophe or an ill-tempered leader who only exacerbated the meltdown crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant last March?
That's the critical question surrounding former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who tried from Tokyo to control the unfolding crisis at the troubled nuclear plant.
On Feb. 28, a private investigation commission published a report on the Fukushima meltdowns that has unleashed media criticism against the short-tempered Kan's "micromanagement" of the crisis response, as described in detail in the 404-page report.