Lacking Diplomacy

Wednesday, May. 23, 2001 "Loose cannon" and "Japanese politician" are phrases not often used in the same sentence. The typical Japanese politician, in fact, is a dour, tight-lipped geezer much too cautious to utter anything worth noting. Like many stereotypes of Japan, this is one we might just have to toss in the rubbish bin, and it's all because of The Lady with the Big Mouth.

That would be Makiko Tanaka, of course, the acid-tongued Foreign Minister in the new administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. In office less...