The LDP's defeat in last August's general election appeared to vindicate Mr Ozawa in spades.
Perhaps the wavy-locked Mr Hatoyama was not Samson to Mr Ozawa's temple after all.
Mr Ozawa, who is 68, has suffered countless reverses before, only to charge back.
The more Mr Ozawa bossed his party, the more popular opinion wanted him out.
Mr Ozawa had sway over his children for as long as he held the whip.
Scandalously, some candidates have hinted that they would seek to overturn the verdict against Ozawa.
Others want Mr Ozawa to act as mentor to the DPJ's huge cohort of wide-eyed freshmen.
If Mr Ozawa focuses on these jobs, then Mr Hatoyama can get on with his.
Mr Ozawa was kingmaker, as both faction leader and LDP secretary-general, but never prime minister.
He believes that without Mr Ozawa's leadership, there would be further paralysis in Japan's hung parliament.
Mr Ozawa is now urging his forces to bring about an upheaval in Japanese politics.
ECONOMIST: Aso steps up to the plate; but perhaps not to stay very long
Ozawa led a 1993 revolt against his own party and spent several years in opposition.
Yet, typical of Mr Okada's ambivalence, he insists Mr Ozawa himself is all for banning corporate donations.
Mr Ozawa wants both to have low tolls and taxpayer funds to go on building unnecessary roads.
Late last year, the New Frontier Party, led by Ozawa Ichiro, split six ways because of internal disagreements.
Mr Ozawa has put on a brave face, threatening to expel anyone who does not agree with him.
On April 27th a judicial panel ordered a review of a February decision not to prosecute Mr Ozawa.
Mr Ozawa promises to restore the pension system, help the working poor and the old, and revitalise the countryside.
ECONOMIST: Aso steps up to the plate; but perhaps not to stay very long
Mr Kan, who first brought Mr Ozawa into the DPJ, was slow to recognise the liability he had become.
If he courts Mr Ozawa, he will put off many of his supporters.
Eigsti performs before a full house at Seiji Ozawa Hall at the 2004 Tanglewood Jazz Festival in Lenox, Mass.
It is a solution proposed briefly by Mr Ozawa in late 2007, much to the horror of his party.
The DPJ's agony over Mr Ozawa has yet to show itself in public.
Some predict the return of Mr Ozawa's malign influence, his anti-Kan sniping vindicated.
From him, Mr Ozawa learnt how to wield power from out of sight.
Crucially, Mr Kan has retaken control of the party apparatus by installing as secretary-general Yukio Edano, whom Mr Ozawa loathes.
Mr Ozawa has one more means of destruction: the nuclear option of leading his true supporters out of the party.
WBGO's Rhonda Hamilton and WGBH's Steve Schwartz are your hosts direct from Seiji Ozawa Hall at the Tanglewood Music Center.
Prosecutors may present more details of Mr Okubo's case in June, after which the options for Mr Ozawa may narrow.
Now his successor, Mr Hatoyama, has made Mr Ozawa the DPJ's secretary-general, a powerful party post but outside the government.
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