One feature of today’s Japan is the prevalence of contract workers in a once-stable labour market. Now even the prime minister holds a temporary job. Japan’s previous two premiers, Shinzo Abe and Yasuo Fukuda, lasted one year and 11 months respectively. The latest incumbent, just sworn in, will do well to beat even that poor showing.

Taro Aso, a blue-blooded aristocrat known for his slips of the tongue and penchant for teenage comics, is the latest gamble by a Liberal Democratic party desperate to retain its long hold on power.