Only in Japan would the Prime Minister think it's a fantastic idea to talk about doubling the consumption tax (Japanese equivalent of U.S. sales tax) three weeks before the national election.

Obviously his party lost control of the Upper House. It remains to be seen if he's going to resign over this, which BTW is the standard MO for 99.9% of Japanese prime ministers. He took over in June 2010. (No, that's not a typo.)