An election took place recently in which the Democratic party of Japan has defeated the Liberal Democratic party. They are talking like this might change something, but I am pretty skeptical. One party rule is one party rule.
I also just found out that they changed the tollway fees in Japan. We would tear it up if we were still there. You could go from Niigata to Mito (where we used to go to see Yoko's brother) for like half of the cost... Too little too late.