The father of Makiko Tanaka, another prominent member, was once prime minister.

ECONOMIST: Japan

Instead, they snipe at his foreign minister, the redoubtable Makiko Tanaka, a woman whose outspokenness is unsettling those who prefer Japan's usual ultra-cautious diplomacy.

ECONOMIST: Japanese politics

Makiko Tanaka, the foreign minister at the time, accused Mr Suzuki, an excitable politician from Hokkaido, a northern island, who appears to have great sway with mandarins in the foreign ministry, of blocking the aid groups (supposedly because they had criticised the government) and tampering in ministry matters.

ECONOMIST: More trouble at the foreign ministry