Below is my comment on the article of "The Man Who Wants To Save Japan", TIME dated on March 12, 2009.

Many Japanese people including myself do not expect Ichiro Ozawa to become the leader who could get us excited with smart speeches and hopeful but firm policies like President Obama, nor to become another Ichiro as a national hero in the baseball world for his Samurai-like disciplined style and superb skill. However, we recognize him as the temporary but only powerful political figure to change the beleaguered Japanese systems that have been piled up since the end of World War II by the powerful bureaucracy. In this sense, it seems clear to me that he is the alternative next Prime Minister to whomever from the old LDP. Escaping from a deepening recession is another matter.