Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda listens to questions during a press conference after being elected as the new leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan on Monday. Photo: AFP

Japan is all set for a new prime minister after Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda became the leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on Monday, but analysts warned that he had less than a year to prove himself.

Japan's Parliament will confirm Noda's appointment today, making him the country's sixth prime minister in the past five years and the DPJ's third leader since the party's general election victory two years ago.

Noda's predecessor, Naoto Kan, was the longest-serving prime minister in the period but resigned Friday after his ratings plunged to just 15 percent amid public criticism over his handling of the aftermath of the March earthquake.

Noda, 54, garnered 215 ballots out of 392 valid votes on Monday in the leadership race, compared with 177 votes for Economy Minister Banri Kaieda, who is backed by DPJ powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the largest intra-party faction.

The election was also joined by Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Michihiko Kano, former transport minister Sumio Mabuchi and former foreign minister Seiji Maehara.

Speaking immediately after the victory, Noda bowed deeply several times and pledged "middle-of-the-road" politics.

He promised to push for a speedy recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and vowed to unite the deeply divided ruling party so that "everyone works together for the sake of the people."

"In this global current, the question is who will be able to navigate this ship called Japan without losing its course, and say what Japan should say in the arena of international negotiations," AFP quoted him as saying.

Liu Jiangyong, a deputy director of the Institute of International Studies at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times that the following 12 months would be crucial for Noda to secure his leadership in the party.

"There will be a general election in September 2012 when the fate of the DPJ will be decided. To secure reelection, Noda needs to focus on reviving the stagnating economy, pushing forward reconstruction in disaster-hit areas, and gradually phasing out nuclear power," Liu said.

In on Monday's speeches, Noda said that he supports reducing Japan's reliance on nuclear power, but he cannot envision a Japan entirely free of nuclear energy.

According to a Yomiuri newspaper poll published on Monday, the DPJ's support was at 21 percent, two percent less than the rating of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, while 46 percent of the public would not vote for any party.

Geng Xin, deputy director of the Tokyo-based Japan-China Communication Institute, said that Noda is unlikely to bring fundamental changes to the country's sluggish economy, domestic politics or diplomacy in the short run.

"Although Noda vowed to raise taxes and cut spending to reduce the country's whopping debt, he has limited time to come up with measures to stimulate the economy, which has been stagnating for years," Geng told the Global Times.

Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University's Japan campus, told Reuters, "Noda has inherited all the same problems – a divided parliament, a divided party, a strong yen, a Tohoku (northeastern Japan) desperate for progress on reconstruction and an early end to the nuclear crisis."
"I think the honeymoon will be very short-lived," Kingston said.

Apart from domestic issues, analysts also noted that Japan's relations with its neighbors and the relocation of a US airbase on Okinawa are Noda's biggest foreign policy challenges.

The son of a paratrooper in the Self-Defense Forces, Noda angered Japan's neighbors, including South Korea and China, weeks ago by saying that Japanese Class-A war criminals convicted by an Allied tribunal after World War II were, in fact, not war criminals.

The Seoul-based Dong-a Ilbo newspaper commented that given Noda's previous mentions of Japanese war criminals at the Yasukuni Shrine, it is possible that South Korea-Japan relations will be strained.

Liu told The Wall Street Journal earlier that Noda's comments were "totally unacceptable for China, South Korea and every country around the world."
"It's tantamount to having the viewpoint that Hitler wasn't a war criminal," Liu said.

China has repeatedly criticized high-profile visits by Japanese leaders to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead, some of whom were World?War?II war criminals. 

Noda was not asked about Yasukuni on Monday, and before the election, he declined to say what he would do if he became prime minister, Reuters reported.
Liu said that it is critical for Noda to tackle the fluctuating ties with China.

"As next year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two sides, it provides Noda an opportunity to repair ties and strengthen cooperation with China," Liu said.

He added that Noda would continue to place high importance on the Japan-US security alliance.

Zhu Shanshan and agencies contributed to this story