The Diet returned to normal last week, after the opposition forces ended their boycott of the ordinary session over the tripartite ruling bloc's handling of a controversial bill for reducing the number of Diet seats.
It is scandalous that no politicians have taken responsibility for a debacle that is unprecedented in Japan's parliamentary history. Lower House Speaker Soichiro Ito and Vice Speaker Kozo Watanabe, who mediated, should be credited with ending the crisis.
The affair serves as a reminder that in Japanese politics, there is no way of telling right from wrong, and that numerical strength is everything.