Battle of the hollow grandsons

Taro Aso, Japan's beleaguered prime minister, has dug himself and his government into such a deep hole that it is unlikely even one of his manga comic superheroes could rescue him, certainly not in time for the next general election.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's loss of three prominent mayoral elections in quick succession has no direct bearing on the general election except that it suggests the people are running away in droves. The loss of another key minister last week shows that even Mr Aso's colleagues have little faith in him.

Some prominent leaders are urging Mr Aso not to delay until the last possible date in September but to call an election to coincide with next month's Tokyo polls. He might see it as political suicide, but critics say it would be a mercy killing of a government that has totally lost its way.

Opinion polls show the government's support plunging to 19 per cent, and its 'non-support' rising to 65 per cent. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won 52 per cent support in one poll, the first time it has topped 50 per cent.

Perhaps the most sobering statistic came when voters were asked whom they preferred as prime minister. 'None of the above' won the vote, with 46 per cent, followed by Yukio Hatoyama, the colourless DPJ leader, on 32 per cent, and the hapless Mr Aso with 15 per cent.

Commentators have presented the Aso-Hatoyama struggle as a re-run of the epic battle between their grandfathers, Shigeru Yoshida, the principal architect with the Americans in rebuilding post-war Japan from the ashes and defeat of war, and Ichiro Hatoyama, from whom Yoshida snatched the leadership when Hatoyama was barred from politics by the occupying power due to his ties with the pre-war military government. Hatoyama triumphantly returned in 1954 when he was allowed back into politics.