It was only two weeks ago that Prime Minister Naoto Kan seemed on the verge of stepping down — his foreign minister, Seiji Maehara, had resigned, his popularity was at a historic low and a divided Diet had given him little hope of passing bills needed to enact the 2011 budget.

But the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11 swept away all of that.

Now observers say the Democratic Party of Japan leader is well-placed to survive for several more months because opposition boycotts in the legislature won't be tolerated by a nation in need of unified leadership during its worst postwar disaster.