With the messages of "Change" and "Yes, we can," Democratic Sen. Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 4. Apparently aided by the financial crisis that unfolded under the Republican administration of George W. Bush, Obama scored a resounding victory that gave him more than double the number of Electoral College votes that went to the Republican candidate John McCain.

The election of the 47-year-old senator as the first black American president itself symbolizes a major change that has swept the U.S. What will be the global implications of this change, and how should Japan respond?

The new president will face a massive domestic challenge. He must dispel the financial uncertainties and rebuild the nation's real economy.