Economist discusses shadow shogun, Ichiro Ozawa

From the Economist, Bad Blood:

Mr Ozawa occupies an unparalleled position in Japanese politics. As architect of the DPJ’s historic victory in elections last August, the party believes it owes him a debt of gratitude, and needs him to manage a big win in upper-house elections this summer. Yet he is also widely seen as a dark presence, whose role hardly squares with the DPJ’s vows to make Japanese politics more open. All requests to DPJ lawmakers for public-spending projects are channelled through him, and he often appears to put the party’s interests before those of the government. Recently, he has flaunted his authority by taking more than 100 DPJ lawmakers on an official trip to China, and inviting them to a banquet at his home on New Year’s Day. Increasingly, the “shadow shogun”, as he is known, is stepping into the limelight.

Yup. Read the rest of the article. The economist rightly notes that Fujii's withdrawal was probably not about health issues, but about struggling with Ozawa.