Noda aims to lead country in subdued but stable manner+

TOKYO, Aug. 29 Kyodo -
Japanese finance minister Yoshihiko Noda never hesitates to describe himself as a rather boring, homespun man, and that did not change Monday as he prepared to become Japan's prime minister.
''There is nothing that can be done even if a weatherfish tries to pretend to be a goldfish,'' Noda told a room packed with the members of parliament from the Democratic Party of Japan, who later elected him as the ruling party's new head. ''Because of my looks, the support rate for us would not rise,'' he joked.
But comparing himself to the freshwater fish abundant in Japan's paddy fields and other marshy areas says a lot about the nature, background, political beliefs and leadership style of the man newly chosen to lead the country at this crucial moment, following the March earthquake and tsunami which piled additional downward pressure on an already struggling economy.
Born in 1957 to parents who both had grown up in farm households, Noda initially aimed to become a journalist. But the shy booklover would soon learn the discipline needed to be a politician from novels that featured lower-class samurai, figures of integrity and strong will, he said.
After studying political science at Waseda University in Tokyo, Noda joined the first batch of students to study at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, a school to train future politicians, established in 1980 by the late founder of Panasonic Corp., Konosuke Matsushita.
Starting his political career in 1987 as a member of the prefectural assembly of Chiba, east of Tokyo, Noda won his first Diet seat as a member of the now-defunct Japan New Party in 1993. He lost the lower house seat in 1996 before returning to national politics in 2000 on the DPJ ticket.
Without support from any particular bodies, Noda sought to remedy that lack of recognition by standing in front of train stations in his constituency for 24 years, explaining his policy views to any commuters willing to stop and listen, until he became finance minister in June last year.
A staunch supporter of tax increases in a bid to improve Japan's debt-laden public finances, Noda is often described as a mindless follower of the Finance Ministry, the most powerful arm of the Japanese bureaucracy. The finance ministry pursues as a critical goal restoring the country's fiscal health, the worst among major developed economies.
Despite eking out a narrow victory in the DPJ presidential election, Noda is expected to persist in seeking stricter fiscal discipline. But he is destined to face opposition from even within his own party, which has many members who believe the top priority ought to be on boosting the economy out the downturn following the March 11 disaster.
''As homespun as weatherfish, I will work for the public,'' Noda said.