Hatoyama 4th in line of hereditary politicians to be prime minister

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TOKYO, Sept. 14 Kyodo -
With Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Hatoyama expected to be named
Japan's next prime minister Wednesday, Japan is likely to make a rare record of
having four straight ''hereditary prime ministers,'' or prime ministers with
kin who held the post previously.
Hatoyama, whose grandfather Ichiro restored diplomatic ties with the then
Soviet Union in 1956 as prime minister, is expected to replace the Liberal
Democratic Party's Taro Aso.
Aso's grandfather, Shigeru Yoshida, was also a prime minister, who led postwar
reconstruction and once fought over power with Ichiro Hatoyama.
Aso's predecessor, Yasuo Fukuda, and his father Takeo were the first
father-and-son prime ministers, and Shinzo Abe, who came before Fukuda, was the
grandson of Nobusuke Kishi, known for revising the Japan-U.S. security treaty
in 1960.
While hereditary lawmakers are common in Japan, the extension of the rare
streak could attract international attention as such hereditary leaders are
rare in other democratic countries.
The DPJ has decided to curb the trend by banning its members from inheriting
electoral districts from close families amid criticism that the practice leads
to fielding lawmakers who cannot develop policy that connects with the public.
The LDP, severely defeated by the DPJ in the latest general election, has also
promised to limit hereditary candidates from the next House of Representatives
election.
But Aso has raised his voice against this, saying, ''There is nothing wrong
with inheriting (your job from) your parent.''
Hatoyama has said the practice has distorted politics in Japan but asked for
leniency in his own case, saying he ran in elections from Hokkaido, where none
of his family or relatives lived.
==Kyodo