On August 30th in 2009 The Democratic Party of Japan(DPJ) won the general election in the House of Representatives. As a result, a change of regime has been made. The DPJ has come to power and Mr. Hatoyama became the Prime Minister of Japan.

But in July 2010 Mr. Hatoyama suddenly resigned as the Prime Minister as doubt was raised regarding a large donation from his mother. At the same time, Mr. Ozawa also resigned as the Secretary General of the DPJ due to accusations surrounding his huge political funds. Subsequently Mr. Naoto Kan took office as the Prime Minister.

The DPJ then lost the election in the House of Councillors in 2010.
The main reason was that the Prime Minister Naoto Kan pronounced a raise in the consumption tax rate without sufficient approval in the DPJ.
Another reason for this loss was that Mr. Hatoyama could not negotiate the issues of the American Futenma Base Camp in Okinawa.
Lastly, many people began to believe that the manifest the DPJ put forward could not be realized easily.

In the House of Councillors, the DPJ could not secure a majority which means the DPJ can pass legislation in the House of Representatives, but not through the House of Councillors.
There are 242 seats in the House of Councillors and the DPJ has only 106 members which forces the DPJ to cooperate with LDP, NEW KOMEITO, and others.

This makes NEW KOMITO an important party. NEW KOMEITO has 19 members in the House of Councillors, and if NEW KOMITO cooperates with the DPJ, they will have a majority in the House of Councillors. Currently MINNA NO TO has only 11 members.

Another important factor is the Ozawa group. If the Ozawa group leaves the DPJ, it will collapse and the political environment in Japan will be thrown into confusion.