Outgoing Yoshihiko Noda a victim of events beyond his control

It is difficult not to feel a degree of sympathy for Yoshihiko Noda, who will be unceremoniously removed as Japan's prime minister in Sunday's general election, if the opinion polls are to be believed.

With only four days until the electorate passes judgment on the Democratic Party of Japan's three years in office, the numbers make for grim reading - a mere 10.2 per cent of the public said they are planning to vote for the ruling party. Noda must surely be preparing himself to join the serried ranks of former Japanese premiers.

Yet by most reasonable measures, Noda has been slave to events outside his control, beset by a perennially fractious party, nationalist provocateurs fanning a territorial row with China and a notoriously fickle electorate.

"I don't actually think he has done too many things wrong in the time he has been prime minister, particularly when one considers the hand he was dealt," says Jun Okumura, an analyst with the Eurasia Group. "I would say that he has done a credible job - although it must be pointed out that his two predecessors did set the bar pretty low."

Noda took over from Naoto Kan on September 2 last year, with the nation still reeling from the impact of March's massive earthquake and tsunami, and the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

The stresses of having to deal with the worst natural disaster in living memory in Japan had taken their toll on Kan, heaped on top of the nation's ongoing economic and fiscal problems.