Second marriages are, at their best, a fresh start and the triumph of hope over experience. In the case of the recent political remarriage, as it were, of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) to Yui no To (Unity Party), both partners enter the union more experienced, and perhaps wiser, than the first time around, when Nippon Ishin, at least, hoped to become a "third force" in Nagata-cho.
But there is no shortage of gossipy wedding guests — pundits and journalists — arguing it's either just a temporary fling that will soon fizzle out, or predicting it's the start, as both sides claim, of something solid that will only grow with time.
After months of discussions and a breakup with his first political partner, former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, Nippon Ishin no Kai, led by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, and Yui no To, headed by Kenji Eda and consisting of many former Your Party members, announced earlier this month they had reached a general policy agreement on seven issues that will form the basis of a merger expected to be finalized by the end of September.