Koichi Kato, head of a large faction in the Liberal Democratic Party, now aims openly to be Japan's next prime minister. He has credentials. A former diplomat with good English skills and wide international contacts, he would do much to improve Japan's bland global image. He is also one of the few LDP politicians to live up to the word "liberal" in the name of that very conservative party.
He could also help keep Japan away from the ugly U.S.-China brawl developing over Taiwan. He still speaks fluently the Chinese he learned as a trainee diplomat in Taiwan during the 1960s. Like others with similar experience (including this writer), he realizes deeply the need for dialogue rather than confrontation with Beijing.
When the guidelines for Japan's future military relationship with the United States were being hammered out in the mid-'90s, he gamely confronted LDP hawks determined to have Taiwan included in the area to which Japan would be committed to help the U.S. in an "emergency." He may not have won that battle -- as always, the conservatives who run Japan were happy to leave the issue in dangerous ambiguity. But at least he tried.