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Strategies & Market Trends : JAPAN-Nikkei-Time to go back up? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: borb who wrote (1286)	7/21/1998 9:57:00 AM
From: chirodoc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3902

Tuesday July 21, 6:43 am Eastern Time Japan PM candidates court foreign media By Linda Sieg TOKYO, July 21 (Reuters) - Rival ruling party candidates in the race to become Japan's next prime minister are courting an unusual constituency -- the foreign media. ''People are very worried about what America and foreigners think about the next prime minister -- image is very important in this race,'' said one political analyst. The battle to replace Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who is bowing out after his party's dismal showing in a July 12 Upper House election, formally kicked off on Tuesday when Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi, veteran conservative Seiroku Kajiyama and Health Minister Junichiro Koizumi registered to run for president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The contest -- which virtually assures the victor the prime ministership because of the LDP's Lower House majority -- has taken on an air distinctly different from that of past battles, when factional deals behind closed doors were the key dynamic. This time candidates are popping up on television almost non-stop, touting policies to revitalise the economy, clean up the ailing banking sector and reform the hide-bound LDP. ''We need to consider three factors -- the internal logic of the LDP, which is normally factional politics; the voters; and world markets,'' said Yasunori Sone, a political science professor at Keio University in Tokyo. Kajiyama, 72, has emerged as a favourite with global financial markets enthusiastic about his pledge to take aggressive action to clean up the financial sector. But worried, one political source said, that foreigners also recalled his less-endearing image as a conservative back-room dealer given to offensive off-the-cuff remarks, Kajiyama got a head start on his rivals by calling a surprise news conference with foreign media on Monday. Speaking through an interpreter, Kajiyama mixed old sayings with blunt talk about the economy and reiterated his campaign pledge to force banks to disclose bad loans and to let them fail if necessary. Kajiyama also tried to exorcise the ghosts of his past. Commenting on his 1990 remark likening foreign prostitutes in Tokyo to American blacks, Kajiyama said: ''I have done my own soul searching for what has taken place in the past. The comments I made at that time reflected my ignorance.'' Rival Koizumi now plans his own chat with foreign reporters on Wednesday, when he is expected to speak in English. A relative youngster at 56, Koizumi has long been a gadfly to the stodgy LDP and has made the need to reform the party and regain voters' confidence a key rallying point. ''The Japanese people don't like the status quo and they want the LDP to change. That is the backdrop against which this election for party president is being held,'' Koizumi told a news conference on Tuesday. Obuchi, who under old-style factional dynamics ought to have been a sure thing for the LDP top post, faces perhaps the hardest time altering his image overseas -- and in many circles at home -- as a colourless consensus-builder who lacks bold ideas. Stung by his characterisation as a ''cold pizza'' in a recent New York Times article, Obuchi has sought to market himself as the only experienced diplomat in the race. He has also pledged to set up a ''Strategic Economic Council'' to draw on private-sector expertise in formulating economic policy to jolt the nation out of recession. Obuchi has not yet called a news conference for foreign media, but on Tuesday he released an English version of his policy platform entitled ''My Bold Decision: We Must Reinstate Politics and Restore the Nation -- Providing New Assurances.'' How much impact good coverage by foreign media will ultimately have on the race is doubtful, although favourable reports might tip the balance for some undecided participants among the 413 LDP members of parliament and local representatives who will vote in Friday's election. Japanese media said on Tuesday that Obuchi was leading the race, but that a hefty number of votes were still undecided. ''I can't really think (foreign media coverage) is the determining factor,'' said another political analyst. ''How many 'IOUs' they can cash in and who has the best chance of restoring Diet (parliament) members to their seats has got to be more important than whether the foreign media or foreign policy makers approve the candidate,'' he said.