The Democratic Party of Japan is about to make a momentous choice. Its party leadership vote on Tuesday will decide who holds the office of prime minister. The contrast between the two candidates could not be more stark. In one corner stands a man who represents continuity with the failed policies of old. In the other his opponent, who promises to shake up economic and diplomatic strategy and rein in the all-powerful bureaucracy.

The reformer is Ichiro Ozawa. Calling him controversial is putting it mildly. Having left the Liberal Democratic party in the early 1990s and plotted its defeat in last year’s election for the DPJ, he is loathed by former colleagues. The nationalist right rages about his pro-China sympathies. The left of his own party fears and distrusts his Machiavellian skills. The media see his contest with Naoto Kan, current prime minister, as the equivalent of Darth Vader’s face-off with Luke Skywalker.

Yet it is Mr Ozawa, sometimes dubbed the shadow shogun, and not Mr Kan who remains true to the vision of change that swept the DPJ to power last year. The party promised generous child benefits of Y26,000 ($309) per month to tackle the demographic decline. This was also the first attempt since the bubble economy burst in 1990 to help consumption by bolstering incomes directly.