The DPJ just elected finance minister Noda as its new president and hence next PM. Ozawa and Hatoyama's more or less grand plan to install minister of economy Kaieda, have him lift Ozawa's suspension and allow him to (directly or indirectly) take control over party finances and decision making, evidently did not work out.

I'm not sure whether the DPJ won't regret voting down the more popular Maehara, who has been leading all candidates in opinion polls, once the next election comes around. Noda has tried very hard to rid himself of the image of being only about tax hikes, but he also emphasized the need for fiscal re-construction. Even if he makes less mistakes than Kan, the question is whether he can convince the party and the public to back his plan. His speeches at the party convention were better than what I had heard from him before, but I'm still not sure whether he has the charisma to be a senkyo no kao and popular PM.

Noda also happens to be far more conservative than Hatoyama or Kan. He has, for instance, reiterated that he does not regard the A-Class war criminals as war criminals, he was critical of the planned, and eventually shelved revision of the Imperial Household Law back in 2006, etc. And while he is not known as a foreign policy guy, for the most part he shares the views of his Matsushita Seikeijuku fellow Maehara.

Best,
Chris

Chris Winkler, PhD
Senior Research Fellow
German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) Tokyo