Politickin'

Japan got a new Prime Minister on September 2nd, a guy by the name of Yoshihiko Noda.  Apparently the Diet (similar to Congress or Parliament) elects the Prime Minister and can also get rid of him whenever they so choose.  As a result, Japan goes through a lot of Prime Ministers.  I don't think one has lasted more than a year in the past five or six years  even though I don't believe there is a limit on how long or how often someone can be Prime Minister.   Our Japanese teacher told us that all the past Prime Ministers is one of harder things to learn as a Japanese school child.

The last guy was the one that was all over the news during the March earthquake, it seems the Diet "lost confidence" in him so they ditched him.  I always felt sorry for the poor man, I don't think he slept for most of the spring.

Our Japanese teacher also told us that the new guy is known as an exceptional orator, and is good at languages.  And, he is famous for giving speeches at train stations.  It seems there are some popular jokes about how he's always to be found carrying on about something in a train station.  He probably doesn't mind, if this article is any indication....he seems to have a pretty good sense of humor.  Wonder if that will still be the case when his year is up.  ;)