Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is stuck.
Trapped by the Diet's stalemate over the next Bank of Japan governor, the ruling bloc has been unable to address a pile of government issues on its plate, leaving the political center of Nagata-cho in disarray.
Twice he tried, and twice he failed before BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui's five-year term ended Wednesday. Now the top banking post in the world's second-largest economy is vacant.