Last week was likely the most important in the tenure of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Three events -- by-elections, the unveiling of his economic plan and the start of normalization talks with North Korea -- tested his commitment to bringing about change in Japan.
The first test was Oct. 27, when the ruling coalition -- consisting of Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and the New Conservative Party -- won five Diet seats in seven by-elections. Four of the elections were triggered when politicians were forced to resign over financial scandals. Scandal, though, wasn't enough to get voters to the ballot box: Six of the seven elections had the lowest turnout ever recorded. Nonetheless, the results helped demonstrate that there is still no credible opposition to Koizumi.
The second test was also domestic. During the 18 months the Koizumi administration has been in office, it has adopted two antideflation packages that have failed to arrest the economy's slump. Last week it revealed its third, a combination of measures designed to reflate the economy and speed up disposal of bad debt hanging over the financial sector. Even before its official release, the plan unleashed a storm of criticism against Heizo Takenaka, the author of the report and the economy czar.