TOKYO - Yasuo Fukuda took office as Japan's prime minister Wednesday, promising to use his skills as a negotiator to win approval for extending Tokyo's contentious mission in support of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The 71-year-old, who studied backroom politics at the knee of his prime minister father, cast himself as the steady hand Japan needs after the scandal-scarred one-year term of his youthful predecessor Shinzo Abe, who abruptly resigned two weeks ago.
"There is room for discussion with our opponents, if they are willing to engage with us," Fukuda said Tuesday in his first news conference after winning election in parliament. "I believe the government and all parties can come together to the negotiating table."
After being officially sworn in at a palace ceremony Wednesday, Fukuda and his ministers held their first Cabinet meeting to map out their political agenda in parliament.
Fukuda, a proven survivor who became the nation's longest-serving chief Cabinet secretary in 2000-2004, faces daunting challenges at the helm of the world's second-largest economy: a parliament split by opposition control of the upper house and rock-bottom public support for the longtime ruling party.
One glaring sign of the troubles ahead was his election Tuesday. While easily triumphing in parliament's powerful lower house, Fukuda was defeated in the upper house, which voted for opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa. It was only because of a law that favors the lower house that Fukuda was named premier.
It was the first time that parliament had split in a vote for prime minister since 1998, and only the fourth time since World War II.
Ozawa, head of the Democratic Party of Japan, made clear, however, that he was interested in wresting power from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, not helping Fukuda achieve his agenda. The opposition is pushing for snap elections for the lower house.
"They are the ones that caused social disparity and distortion," Ozawa said of the ruling party, referring to the widening gap between rich and poor. "We want to bring an end to such government as soon as possible."
In an attempt to make the transition as seamless as possible, Fukuda reinstalled the Cabinet almost en masse, merely shifting some members among ministries.
But his policy priorities were markedly different from Abe's nationalist agenda, which included revision of the pacifist constitution to give more freedom to the military, expansion of patriotic education, and an unapologetic view of Japan's actions before and during World War II.
Instead, Fukuda -- who favors warm relations with the rest of Asia -- struck a populist pose, vowing to tackle the government's troubling loss of millions of pension records, provide assistance to rural areas left behind in the economic recovery and deal with the fallout from the rapid aging of society.
"I would like to build a country where young people have confidence in the future and the elderly can live with peace of mind," Fukuda said.
Fukuda's top legislative priority was the extension of the naval refueling mission in support of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. The mission started in 2001, and Washington has called publicly for Tokyo to renew its commitment.
The new prime minister suggested he was confident he could finesse the opposition into going along with an extension for the sake of Japan's relations with its No. 1 ally and protector, the United States, which has some 50,000 troops based in Japan.
"Japan's naval mission is invaluable to the international community," Fukuda said. "We will push to secure an extension at the earliest possible time."
Perhaps Fukuda's biggest problem is the record of his predecessor.
Abe, 53, took over the government a year ago at the pinnacle of Liberal Democratic Party popularity. He basked in 70 percent support ratings, and quickly scored points by visiting China and South Korea to repair frayed relations with Japan's neighbors.
But Abe's administration was quickly undone by scandals that led to the suicide of one Cabinet minister and the resignation of four others. He led the party to July elections in which they lost control of the upper house.
Abe stunned the nation when he announced his resignation Sept. 12 and checked into a hospital for unspecified stress-related abdominal complaints. He ended a long bout of silence when he told reporters Monday he quit because of ailing health.
Fukuda inherits his world view from his father, Takeo Fukuda, who served as prime minister from 1976 to 1978.
Like his father, who promoted the "Fukuda Doctrine" of warm ties with Asia, the younger Fukuda wants closer relations with China and South Korea, and has proposed negotiations with North Korea to resolve outstanding issues.
At the same time, Fukuda -- who came to politics as his father's aide and won his first parliament seat in 1990 -- remembers vividly the criticism Japan endured when it refused to provide more than cash for the 1991 Gulf War.
The lesson Fukuda says he took from that was that Japan should contribute manpower to maintaining a world order that has allowed it to prosper -- hence his strong support for the Afghan mission.
It was unclear how long Fukuda would be able to stave off opposition calls for a snap election in the lower house. He has suggested he wants to pass the Afghan bill and next year's budget in the spring before allowing a vote to go forward.
Fukuda was also expected to struggle to turn around the negative publicity that a year of scandal has brought.
"I don't expect much from the new premier," said Fumiko Uchiyama, a 45-year-old woman in Tokyo. "It seems that most of the country's politicians of today consider only for themselves, rather than turning to the people."
