FOCUS: Rare stopgap budget a wake-up call for Japan PM's centralized approach

TOKYO - Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's apparent go-it-alone, centralized approach is facing a major reality check, after she was forced to rethink her initial plan to bypass the opposition and push for passage of a record state budget before the new fiscal year begins.

The supermajority in the House of Representatives her party secured in the Feb. 8 general election gave her a mandate and seemingly the power to push her policy agenda. But the last-minute drafting of Japan's first stopgap budget in more than a decade shows she does not have a completely free hand.