Recipients of the Cabinet email magazine, a weekly bulletin from the office of the Japanese prime minister, have long been used to the publication’s conversational, pared-down and occasionally even cryptic style, which has been suspiciously consistent despite the revolving-door policy operated in the office over the past two years. Yet the message dated July 23 that began with news of heavy rain in Yamaguchi prefecture found the magazine in unusually gloomy, introspective voice.
With his popularity rating falling below 20%, prime minister Taro Aso dissolved parliament on July 21; media reports and polls predict an end to the LDP’s 50 years of more-or-less uninterrupted rule.
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