Over the years, despite political incompetence and a constant revolving door of PMs and PMs, the bureaucrats have been the stability factor which has allowed Japan to roll on (almost) without a hitch in the eyes of the rest of the world. However if the bureaucracy is coming apart Japans future stability doesn't look good.
Was 3/11 the last straw in Japan's demise? With any luck something better will come out of the ashes. But with an aging population I wonder just how long it will take for those ashes to settle.
[SIZE="3"]Bureaucrats blame Kan for sapping their initiative[/SIZE]
Their negligence is reflected in the fact that the central government ministries and agencies have transmitted few proposals, action plans, request, etc. to the prime minister's headquarters.
Conversely, officials from the same ministries and agencies who are stationed at the prime minster's headquarters have had very few matters to transmit back to their bosses. That's because Kan tends to speak up proposals haphazardly and in an ill-conceived manner without coordination with Cabinet ministers and other officials.
The problem this country faces is multifaceted: a prime minister with no leadership, two major political parties interested only in faulting each other, mass media spreading the misapprehension that Japan's outlook in every field will brighten once Kan steps down, and those bureaucrats who are loath to do their duties of serving people.
