Yoshiro Mori, who replaced Keizo Obuchi as prime minister after Obuchi suffered a stroke and went into coma, is a very lucky man. As secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Mori was a loyal aide to Obuchi, who had recently suffered a sharp drop in popularity. Mori firmly believes in the philosophy of "endurance for the sake of pride" espoused by Fukuzawa Yukichi, a 19th century philosopher-educator and founder of what is now Keio University.
In the last LDP presidential election, Mori announced support for Obuchi's re-election bid early in the campaign, while rivals Koichi Kato and Taku Yamasaki received wide media coverage. In the election, Obuchi crushed Kato and Yamasaki, who were seeking media exposure in order to stake a claim to future party leadership. Obuchi attributed his victory to Mori's loyal support.
Mori, who did plan to seek the party leadership eventually, chose not to compete with Obuchi. Kato and Yamasaki lost because they acted too hastily. Mori is a farsighted schemer. Kato and Yamasaki were never mentioned as possible replacements for the ailing Obuchi.