Yanagida

There are times when politicians tell the truth. Some of those times it is the nature of the person; sometimes it is the need of the situation; and once in a while it is unintentional... the famous "Kinsleyesque Gaffe".

This time, I think it is safe to consider the case to be the last of those listed:

Japan's justice minister is facing calls for his resignation after he was quoted as saying his job was easy and he had no idea why he had got it.

Yanagida Minoru (M. Yanagida) has been in national politics for minshutou (The Democratic Party of Japan; DPJ) since 1990, but fairly quickly moved from the Lower House to the Upper House of the parliament... usually a sign of a party insider or a minion of some more substantial faction leader. This case appears to be the former.

It is a pity, really. The DPJ as a party has little depth on the bench other than the Ozawa faction, who are still in the political doghouse with the electorate.

It may be too late to salvage the situation. The Kan administration needs to get past this... and Japan needs an effective Justice Minister.