Yoshihiko Noda to take over as Japan's 6th PM in five years

Japan's new prime minister Yoshihiko Noda, a fiscal conservative and a foreign policy hawk, takes over at one of the most crucial times for the nation in the post-World War II phase.

Noda, who beat four other rivals in his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to emerge as the nation's sixth prime minister in five years (See: Noda to be new Japanese premier after winning party vote), was finance minister under the outgoing premier Naoto Kan.

"I'm aware that we have problems with the strong yen and deflation," Noda told reporters after he took over as prime minister. "But at the same time, we need to maintain fiscal discipline." The yen earlier this month touched a new post-war high against the US dollar. As finance minister, Noda had approved three interventions in the global currency markets in a bid to weaken the yen.

The most immediate task before the new prime minister is to produce a third extra budget to pay for the recovery from the triple disasters of March, when a massive earthquake shook the north-eastern part of the country. This was followed by a huge tsunami that also crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The outgoing Naoto Kan government has estimated that that the reconstruction will cost a whopping $169 billion over the next five years. While the 54-year-old Noda is expected to go ahead with the reconstruction of the quake- and tsunami-ravaged region in the north-east, he is also likely to raise taxes to fund Japan's deficit; the country's public debt has now gone up to 200 per cent of its GDP.

"On the topic of fiscal discipline, we need to carry out careful management of the economy and public finances," said Noda after his election on Tuesday. While most politicians in Japan are opposed to the raising of taxes, there is growing public approval for hiking taxes.

Unlike his predecessor, Noda is also not opposed to nuclear power. While he has agreed to a gradually phasing out of nuclear power, he has warned that that the country cannot do without it in the short term.

Noda is also seen a foreign policy hawk, who has in the past expressed concerns over China's growing military might. Controversially, he has also said that Japan should no longer treat its wartime leaders, convicted by allies after World War II, as 'war criminals,' raising a storm of protests from other Asian neighbours.