Naoto Kan’s ordinary “salaryman” family background may be distinct from the string of elite prime ministers before him. But on Thursday he risked suffering the same fate as his predecessors: getting the boot after roughly a year.
Mr Kan survived a no-confidence vote on Thursday – just a few days shy of his first anniversary as prime minister. However, before the ballot, he signalled he would step down after dealing with the crisis that has engulfed Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that sparked the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years.