Japan is suffering from a deflation of political as well as economic values if the current unproductive, ill-natured and destructive parliamentary session is anything to go by.
When it opened in January, the session was to be focused on the issue of rescuing the world?s second-biggest economy from ruin. Instead it has fallen into a quagmire of accusation and counter-accusation over a series of scandals that have distracted political and media debate from the serious structural problems facing Japan.
So many senior politicians have been forced to resign their seats or posts that, if this Diet session were a football match, it would have had to be cancelled because there were not enough players left on the pitch.
The confrontation is continuing, but the casualty list is as follows: former foreign minister Makiko Tanaka sacked over a feud with bureaucrats; Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) heavyweight Muneo Suzuki forced to resign over allegations of influence peddling; former chief Cabinet secretary Koichi Kato obliged to leave the LDP over illegal fund raising; and policy chief of the Social Democratic Party Kiyomi Tsujimoto pushed into giving up her Diet seat because she misused her budget.
This tawdry spectacle has disillusioned a public whose interest in politics jumped last year amid hopes that the surprise surge to power by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi would herald a new era in politics.
This week their disillusionment was apparent in the mayoral by-election in Yokohama where the incumbent, standing for a fourth time with the backing of the three ruling parties, was surprisingly beaten by a relatively unknown without any party support.
Koizumi has also felt the backlash. According to the latest polls, his support rating has fallen by close to 40%.
He is not alone. The steady drip of scandals has damaged the reputation of all the mainstream parties.
By far the most heinous was that involving Suzuki, who allegedly controlled the Foreign Ministry from behind the scenes and received kickbacks from construction projects funded from the overseas development aid budget. His exposure highlighted the continued prevalence of money politics and backroom deal-making in the higher echelons of the LDP and the government.
That this structural corruption has come to light has been the silver lining of an otherwise very dark cloud, but the revelation has been obscured by subsequent scandals.
That is particularly true in the case of Tsujimoto, who shared public funds intended for one secretary among several less well-paid staff. It was a clear violation of the rules, but one that is far from uncommon among the small opposition parties that lack private-sector funds. Tsujimoto is now threatened with arrest, while Suzuki has been able to hold on to his parliamentary seat.
While no one would claim victory from this rash of scandals, it is clear that the old guard of the LDP have taken vengeance on three of their most vocal and effective opponents.
Tanaka has long been the fiercest critic of her own party; Kato had the gall to attempt a coup against the last prime minister; and Tsujimoto dared to accuse senior LDP figures of lying in Parliament. Now these would-be reformers are besmirched by scandals.
Three to one then to the LDP?s old guard in the scandal scoring stakes. Perhaps it is little wonder that the public is beginning to wonder whether Koizumi has swapped sides.