I share John Campbell's dismay at the DPJ shooting themselves in the foot (again).
As a slight tangent to this post, and in response for call from various pundits for Thatcher/Renho style "solutions," I'd like to add a few comments: austerity is not the correct medicine for Japan.

Japan, and other countries, should not alter their fiscal approaches to avoid becoming another Greece:
Euro zone "solutions" should not set fiscal agenda for Japan (and the rest of world).

Greece's problems stem - mostly - from fiscal profligacy, a lack of domestic savings, and what could charitably be described as a lack of clarity in reporting by the government. This should not be conflated with countries that are suffering from balance sheet recessions, which occur when the collapse of an asset price bubble drives a sharp increase in private savings. The two are obviously very different.

Some policymakers appear to believe that all fiscal problems are the same, and since their fiscal deficits are as large as Greece's, they then conclude that they need fiscal consolidation as the core of their macroeconomic policies.
Trying to administer the same treatment as Greece, even though Japan's fiscal deficit has entirely different causes, will not cure Japan's (or other nations') economic woes.

Best regards,

Gill Steel
Institute for the Liberal Arts
Doshisha University