Why now?

Naze ima?

Prime Minister Fukuda just resigned.

When a doctor thinks you are developing senile dementia, he will ask you a series of questions which include simple addition problems, naming random vegetables, and the current President of the USA. This won't work in Japan, because PMs come and go faster than fashion trends and the doctor himself might quite possibly not be sure of the correct answer.

The Americans lament that they have had continuous one party rule, but Bill Clinton was in office only eight years ago. Japan is where they have regular elections but continuous one party rule for decades on end.

One thing about continuous one party rule is that you know exactly which political party is responsible for what is going on in your country. The crumbling medical system and social security system, the ruinous public school system, the disastrous level of debt, the increasing gap between the haves and have nots, you know that what the Liberal Democratic Party (which, as we all know, is neither very liberal nor very democratic) did or did not do caused it or at least did not stop it from happening.

Quite honestly, I don't think anyone has a straightforward answer on how to make this country a better place to live. But isn't it kind of irresponsible to cop out before your term runs out and create yet another former PM who gets a former PM pension.