The Japanese party system has been in flux in recent years. In1993, two groups defected from the Liberal Democratic Party(LDP) and joined with the opposition to form a broadlybased coalition government. A year later, the LDP regainedpower by creating a coalition government with its ideologicalopponent, the Japan Socialist Party (JSP). Both eventsshocked virtually everyone at the time. The LDP had been inpower for so long-almost 40 years-that it seemed almostinconceivable that it could lose power. For just as long, theJSP had been the main opposition. By the 2000 election, adozen parties had come and gone, the JSP's strength droppedto a very small fraction of what it was a decade earlier, andthe LDP had to turn to various coalition partners to maintainits control of government. All this is quite puzzling to evenclose watchers of Japanese politics, because party politics,especially the role of opposition parties, has been a relativelyunderstudied area. For those who want to make sense of howthese events came to pass, Ray Christensen's Ending the LDPHegemony will be very helpful.