Indecision is a much-criticized feature of Japanese politics. Diet sessions are rife with unproductive wrangling as the ruling and opposition camps dispute the timing of the submission of bills while avoiding constructive discussions on them.

Making matters worse, because the Constitution stipulates that Cabinet members must be present at the Diet in case they are called upon, they are frequently caught up in time-consuming committee sessions that prevent them from doing the work of government or making diplomatic trips abroad.

Now that the conservative Liberal Democratic Party has a comfortable majority in both chambers of the Diet, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing to reform the system as a means to impose his agenda without the usual hindrances.