After the resignation of Japanese Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda at the beginning of September, one would think that the job has become something of a poisoned chalice.
When I arrived in Japan in 2005, the Prime Minister was the flamboyant Junichiro Koizumi. He resigned in 2006 and was replaced by the younger and eager Shinzo Abe. However Abe was not a popular choice within the party, despite his father having been a powerful politician, and soon he found himself in a deadlocked situation.
He was replaced last year with the older Fukuda, but his leadership seem non-descript and anaemic at times. With the DJP (Democratic Party) holding the upper houses, Japanese politics seemed at a stalemate.
The man pictured is the new leader of the LDP; the tough talking, manga loving conservative Taro Aso. Aso is, and was during my previous time in Japan, one of the most charasmatic and recognisible faces in Japanese politics. He recieved 351 out of the 527 votes from fellow MPs and Party members, and it is now widely believed that he will call a general election to reinforce his leadership.
However, Tokiko Terada, a pensioner from Tokyo, states " I can't stand it! We can't choose the Prime Minister again".
The LDP has run Japan, almost without a break, since Mrs Terada was about the same age as her granddaughter Yuki is now. Yuki's mother Michiko Terada was born in 1956, the year after the LDP first took power.
But with the DJP rising in power, maybe there will be change or will the election of Taro Aso keep the LDP in governement ?
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