Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has a piece of advice for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama: It is a leader's job to stay strong in the face of criticism.
"It is natural that leaders get criticized," Muneo Suzuki, a Lower House member who attended their meeting Monday at the Prime Minister's Official Residence, quoted Gorbachev as telling Hatoyama. "It is your job to withstand (criticism.)"
Gorbachev made the remarks after Hatoyama said he "has already come under criticism" since taking office in mid-September, Suzuki told reporters.
Hatoyama's family is known to have close ties with Russia. Former Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama, Hatoyama's grandfather, signed the Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration to restore diplomatic relations in 1956.