A portrait of John F. Kennedy stands in Goshi Hosono's office as a reminder to the prospective leader of the opposition of the need to be ready for a crisis.
"I put the picture up as it forces me to ask myself if I have the strength and drive to make important decisions at crucial times," Hosono said yesterday of the painting of the former U.S. president during the Cuban missile crisis. "A situation where you shoulder the burden of the nation could occur at any time."
Hosono, 43, likened the pressure of his role as minister for nuclear policy in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima meltdowns to that of Kennedy in 1962. "I was directly involved in deciding what work was needed on-site and the role of the Self-Defense Forces," he said in an interview in his office adorned with maps of the area around the devastated plant.