In reply to Paul's comments about Genzei Nippon's Kawamura and Hashimoto: I don't think that the former and the latter see eye-to-eye on that issue. The policy plan of the Isshin no Kai which was published the other day, is actually in favor of both a consumption tax hike and TPP. What is more, Hashimoto in on uncertain terms had told Kawamura that unless he relented on his tax reduction plans, there would be no more cooperation between the two in the future. As a result, Kawamura promised to put his pet project on the backburner for now.

It seems to me that the opposition to the tax hike and the Hashimoto phenomenon are better viewed as two distinctive issues, even though both are certainly to some degree fueled by widespread discontent with the party establishment in Nagata-cho. That being said, I don't see Hashimoto actively seeking to cooperate with parts of that establishment, e.g. Ozawa, Kamei or Hiranuma, because such a cooperation probably would hurt his image rather than help him and his high popularity affords him to do things his way.

Best,
Chris Winkler