Until the Mar. 11 earthquake and tsunami, Prime Minister Naoto Kan looked like another casualty of Japan's unending political strife. His approval rating was down to less than 20 percent. His attempts to rein in the deficit were stymied in Parlia- ment. The opposition Liberal Democratic Party had him in its sites: the LDP had already forced out one of his ministers as a result of a minor campaign funding scandal, and Kan, 64, appeared marked for the same fate. A sad end seemed inevitable for the onetime reformer who had inspired hope in the 1990s with bold talk of a new political system.
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