In the gubernatorial election of Nagasaki Prefecture on Feb. 21, the candidate backed by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan was roundly defeated by his opponent, who was supported by the No. 1 opposition Liberal Democratic Party. The winner, former Vice Gov. Hodo Nakamura, garnered 44.9 percent of total votes cast against 31.5 percent for the runnerup, Tsuyoshi Hashimoto.

This came at a time when Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and all-powerful Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa were caught up in news reports of their political funds scandals. Ozawa had become an investigation target of public prosecutors in a dubious real estate transaction, while Hatoyama was accused by the opposition of receiving huge sums of money from his mother.

Only a couple of months ago, Ozawa appeared to possess every conceivable political advantage following his role in leading his party to an overwhelming victory in the general election last August. Although he still appears to be the key man in the party, he has lost the spiritual, moral and social authority to demand loyalty from other people. That's due not only to the fact that three of his closest confidants have been indicted on charges of falsifying political fund reports but also to Ozawa's own behavior after he avoided indictment.