Sixth time lucky?

The Japanese,reflexively cynical about their politicians through long sufferance,can rattle off their countrys problems,and yet only despair at the revolving door through which prime ministers come and go,as ineffectual as ever. Yoshihiko Noda,the new PM,is Japans sixth since September 2006. But even for those who argue that the personality of Japans PM doesnt matter,that government is run by pretty competent bureaucrats,Nodas predecessor,Naoto Kan,was particularly disastrous. He couldnt stem his partys rebellion against him,lost the Upper House of the Diet,thereby failing to push through necessary reforms,and he shocked everybody by mishandling the aftermath of last Marchs earthquake and tsunami. Given Japans dysfunctional politics,the Democratic Party of Japan,which scored a historic victory in 2009,squandered its goodwill in no time,although voters are reluctant to go back to the Liberal Democratic Party,which lost only its second election in a half-century.

The minefield that Noda walks into is formidable even by a developed countrys standards: Japans economy has been in permanent recession,a rising yen is harming Japans export-oriented manufacturing sector,Tokyo has the biggest national debt in the industrialised world,a pension system unreformed for a decade,and an ageing society. To top it all,the natural disaster stalled discussions begun on restarting the stagnant economy. Post-Fukushima,the damaged reactors yet to undergo a cold shutdown and still leaking radiation led to a shutdown of other nuclear power plants.

Noda has picked an unknown Jun Azumi as finance minister,prompting speculation that hell continue policies he had designed as FM himself. But his biggest challenge remains pushing reforms through a twisted,uncompromising Diet at a moment when Japan is arguably facing its biggest crisis,post-World War II.