Referred to as the "gaffe-a-minute" Prime Minister by Japan's hyperbolic Mainichi Daily News, Mr Yoshiro Mori brushed off calls this week from inside and outside his own party that he resign for imprudently relating a story to British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair about efforts to find a number of Japanese citizens allegedly kidnapped by North Korea.
Embarrassment appeared to outweigh outrage in Japan when it was revealed that Mr Mori told Mr Blair at a meeting in Seoul on Friday that Japan had suggested to Pyongyang that it resolve the "kidnapping" issue by suddenly having the missing people reappear in third countries.
Tokyo says it has strong evidence that 10 of its citizens were kidnapped by Pyongyang agents in the 1970s and 1980s, though some estimates say closer to 50 people were taken. North Korea denies any abductions.
Members of Mr Mori's own party, the highly factionalised Liberal Democratic Party, accused him of showing ignorance of a basic tenet of diplomacy - knowing when to keep your mouth shut. The third-country discovery solution, always highly improbable, is now off the agenda and some of Mr Mori's critics have even accused him of endangering the lives of the missing persons.
Mr Mori has been under fire virtually since he became Prime Minister in April for making a series of controversial remarks that suggested a yearning for the days of a warmongering Japan.
Though Mr Mori appears to have survived the latest crisis, he is widely viewed within his own party as a liability who will have to go sometime before next July's Upper House election. The LDP is worried that people will use their ballots to "question the virtue of having Mr Mori as Prime Minister," says Mr Shigenori Okazaki, a political analyst at securities company UBS Warburg.
Mr Mori may also decide to go of his own accord. He said over the summer that he has no particular desire to hold the post, while, according to an opinion poll conducted days before the most recent scandal broke, his Cabinet is supported by only 23 per cent of voters.
Why Mr Mori keeps making reckless comments, especially ones that upset his neighbours in the rest of east Asia, where Japan is pushing for a bigger diplomatic role, is unclear. Mr Okazaki suggests "he is careless."
It also seems as if the generally affable Mr Mori is lost on the bigger stage. On paper, he is well qualified for the job, having wide experience in a number of important positions within the LDP and the Cabinet. But the ministerial posts offered at each of the frequent Cabinet reshuffles are given almost on a rotation basis, with time-servers as well as gifted politicians lining up for their rewards.
Many critics argue that Mr Mori is living proof that in Japanese politics someone with a dazzling CV is not necessarily a dazzling politician.