On Sept. 27, just hours after emerging victorious in a tight race for the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, a beaming Shigeru Ishiba stood in front of the cameras at the party headquarters as he expounded on his vision for the country.
Fast-forward one month to a post-general election news conference, and the picture could have hardly been more different.
For Ishiba, the ruling LDP-Komeito coalition's loss of a majority in the Lower House after a hastily called snap election has capped a month to forget marked by policy fumbles, a lukewarm public embrace of the new administration and faux pas on the central issue of the election: political reform.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.