Indeed, the government's relief efforts were eclipsed in the popular imagination by the heroic ministrations of such charitable groups as the Buddhist Tzu-Chi foundation.
Mr. Noda, who was finance minister at the time of the disaster, was promoted to the premiership in September after his predecessor, Naoto Kan, lost popular support amid criticism over the government's handling of disaster relief and the nuclear accident.
When an Egyptian news channel reflecting the aims of the Tahrir Square revolutionaries introduced some light relief to the schedules, it inadvertently created a new star more popular than the news coverage.