Japan's politics is again in a turmoil. The in-fight within the ruling party DPJ--between prime-minister Kan and die-hard Ozawa and his clique--lingers on, while the economy is quickly recovering from the earthquake blow. Bureaucrats keep working, drafting policy initiatives and executing domestic as well as foreign policies.

The room for Japan's maneuver and its effects are rather large, even if the politicians may seem to be solely engaging in their own matters. For example Japan is much needed by ASEAN countires not only in economy but also as a political balancer vis-a-vis China. Japan's economic assitance abroad can still make a big difference in improvement of infrastructure. In world financial affairs Japan's position still matters very much.

The economic basis of Japan is strong, and it is equipped with a decent and rather robust policy-making mechanism (the bureaucracy is the largest "think-tank" in Japan). Although Japan is stripped of the "face" (a strong political leader), it is moving with reason (based upon modern values), generating sizable power.