"Japanese politics today lacks principles," former Health and Welfare Minister Junichiro Koizumi said when I met him recently as a member of a journalists' group. Koizumi also criticized government budget outlays of 80 trillion yen, against national and local tax revenues of only 50 trillion yen. He lamented that the government is covering the deficit by issuing bonds. The outstanding balance of government bond issues has climbed to a record 300 trillion yen.

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's administration may appear to be taking political leadership in national affairs, but it is playing only a secondary role. Behind the scenes, the business community and the bureaucracy are effectively running national affairs. Government policies, which should place more emphasis on stimulating the economy and creating jobs, seem to have the effect of making the rich richer and the poor poorer, as in the United States.

Until last year, there was rationality in Japanese politics. The Obuchi administration and the opposition forces confronted each other squarely on economic policies and the banking crisis. Obuchi's top aide, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka, schemed to form a coalition between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party to deal with legislative difficulties stemming from the LDP's lack of majority in the Upper House. He then engineered moves to obtain New Komeito's support in the Diet to establish a majority in the chamber. Nonaka's strategy was not unreasonable.