Finally, after 54 years, an opposition party has dislodged Japan’s Liberal Democrats from power. Having proved that it can mount a successful campaign, the triumphant Democratic Party of Japan must now go one better: it must show it can govern.

Much criticism of the DPJ has centred on its inexperience. That is unfair. Given the long monopoly on power that the LDP has enjoyed, it could not have been otherwise. Yet it is true that the party of Yukio Hatoyama, who will later this month be sworn in as prime minister, must move quickly to establish its credentials.