As the saying goes, "tragedy at first, followed by comedy." Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's dismissal of Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on Jan. 29 was a tragic event in the political world. The collapse of the Koizumi-Tanaka team, at the forefront of the government that emerged in April 2001 to tremendous public acclaim, was a tragic scene brought about by miscalculation on Koizumi's part.

The prime minister punished Tanaka as well as a bureaucrat in the Foreign Ministry ("a hotbed of corruption," in Tanaka's words) and Diet member Muneo Suzuki ("a gangsterlike politician"). But in doing so, Koizumi revealed his true nature and his dependence on Tanaka for popular support. His popularity rating, which had remained at 80 percent for nine months, suddenly plummeted to 50 percent and then 30 percent.

That's when the tragedy stopped and the comedy began. The Liberal Democratic Party suffered another humiliation after the Suzuki debacle when Koichi Kato, former secretary general of the LDP, was forced to testify before the Diet regarding his suspected involvement in a scandal. Not long after he tendered his resignation.

The flood of accusations then enveloped other parties. Michihiko Kano, deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, and Kiyomi Tsujimoto, policy research chief of the Social Democratic Party, were summoned to testify in the Diet. While Kano conducted himself in a composed manner and actually emerged with his reputation enhanced, in general the shameful scenes only exacerbated the public's distrust in politics.

The politicians and parties continue to frantically hurl insults and accusations at one another, but public sentiment varies between indifference and anger. In addition, a feeling of discontent is spreading throughout the nation as economic and fiscal struggles continue, the recession goes on and on, bankruptcies become almost commonplace and unemployment increases.

But the economic policies of the Koizumi administration and the LDP lack consistency. While the reformers, led by the prime minister, promote policies that give priority to structural reform, whenever possible the party's forces of resistance and conservatism proclaim that economic stimulus measures should be given priority.

Criticism and dissatisfaction at Japan's tardiness in dealing with deflation and the disposal of bad loans are growing in both the private and public sectors of Western countries. A danger exists that discord both domestically and internationally will further reduce Koizumi's popularity, weaken his leadership and shake the administration.

Even so, for the time being there is almost no possibility of Koizumi resigning and a new government taking power. The public has lost faith in all parties and is becoming increasingly disillusioned by politics in general. Furthermore, there is no politician who can readily take Koizumi's place. Even the forces of resistance in the LDP, with no alternative to offer, are resigned to allowing the Koizumi administration to remain at the helm for a while longer.

How long will this situation of powerlessness in politics continue? Following the plunge in the prime minister's popularity rating, his opponents in the LDP have decided that rather than finish him off, the best thing to do is to let the administration hobble along. In such a situation, Koizumi has no chance of playing his trump card -- dissolving the Diet and calling a general election.

The mudslinging contest in the Diet will continue. For a while onlookers will continue to ridicule the farce, but eventually their laughter may turn to desperate wisecracks about the "sinking of Japan." This is the state of Japanese politics today.