Japan sees the light

ABOUT to lead a rebellion designed to split his own party and bring down the government, Tsutomu Hata turned to the prime minister, Kiichi Miyautwa, on June 18th and, without irony, bowed. In its exquisite politeness, just as in its phenomenal economic success and its incomprehensible politics, Japan has long seemed different from all other countries. Now Mr Hata and his rebels have blown a hole in one of the main features of Japanese distinctiveness: a political system that has kept the Liberal Democratic Party in power for 38 unbroken years.