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What do you think Yukio Hatoyama's legacy as prime minister will be?

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Same legacy as 3 PMs before him - a string of politicians with no spine that promise more than they can chew.

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his shirt and ties.

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two words "EPIC FAIL" or "Ugly shirt"

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Well it certainly won't be for his stellar performance in office. ...Probably the shirt, yeah. And his wife from Venus.

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zip. zero. zilch. none. nonexistent. trifle. pathetic. moronic. useless. inept. worthless. stupid. (Take your pick from the list).

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He was on South Park.

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The image of a lifeless, goat-eyed face at press conferences. Oh, and his numerous trips to Okinawa to placate, and then finally apologize to, the locals.

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He promised Okinawa and failed to live up to it. That was his downfall as to his PM legacy.

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Aliens failing to conquer Japan...

The guy imitating him better hurry and put together a new act!

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He will be seen as a transition figure, as Japan transitions from the LDP to DPJ, and the first real leader in Japan for 5 years: Naoto Kan!!! I'm optimistic! Yes, we Kan!!!

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If you mean "Kan" as in the current occupant @1600 Pa.Ave my freind,You really are on a LOSING STREAK!! Hatoyama will go back to his former "Hatamoto" life and write his (oh so short) memoirs!!

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who is this guy anyway, did he do something lol

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At least he and his party attempted to clean up some of the ridiculous govt. spending the LDP lived off of and cut some of the even more ridiculous dam projects. That said, he made George Bush look politically saavy....the blank un-blinking stare in the cameras didn't help either...

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I agree with my2sense: the shirt.

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Legacy? He was only around 9 months and achieved precisely nothing. Except maybe to make Japan go on looking ridiculous and ineffective in the eyes of other countries.

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Legacy,what legacy!!!!!!were you joking when you came up with this header.

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High hopes, low delivery. He was the leader for the first real change of government in most people's memory. Some valuable lessons in his fall from power....

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Let's see, he took the power from the LDP, started looking at the public (over)spendings, made people think about the (un)necessity of the US-Japan alliance, started dealing in some way with the problem of underpopulation. The first person since Koizumi who made people actually think about the politics, who made people want to go to the polls. He got caught into the promise of the bases, on which he could not deliver. He went down over a minor issue, but he again put politics into the conversation. Started many things but in 8 months was not able to finish. Still, not bad for 8 months. So, overall, in those short 8 months he did more than many others who stayed longer.

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Who?

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I think Japan really needs to elect a president for a fixed term. This is ridiculous. Imagine if a crisis were to suddenly arise.

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He will be remembered for setting up the wildly unsuccessful "Real Hato Cafe". I wonder if it will still be open for us to pop in for a coffee now the star is gone? LOL

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L-O-O-P-Y

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His legacy is to show where Japan stands in the partenership with America. Unequal and not worthy of talking to. He brought this to light to even the most probase, proalliance, proamerican Japanese. Whenever Okinawa is in the news, even not related to crime by US service members all Japanese will have a flash memory of America as their overseers.

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Definitely the blank goat stare.

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DEFINETLY receiving the pickled umeboshi plums the day after announcing his resignation. That, his 80's shirt and wife's eating of???? what was it, stardust? no sunshine!, his wife claiming to eat sunshine, and know Tom Cruise in a previous life. This legacy should be written in stone somewhere!

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What do you think Yukio Hatoyama's legacy as prime minister will be?

Anarchy!

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For a guy who only lasted 9 months and will only be remembered for his botched handling of several things that were imporant for most Japanese, I seriouly doubt anyone will be thinking of the word, "legacy".

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Betting's answer sums it up well. The question itself is quite assuming, or to be more blunt ridiculous!

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Future Prime Ministers can learn from his mistakes and hopefully be alot wiser and stronger.

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Yellow ties and that god-awful shirt he wore at the cook-outs. Other than that he contibuted absolutely ZIP.

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I don't know. His speech was incredibly measured in pace and tone. You gotta look for the good sometimes. He seemed to have meditated for 10 minutes per word in advance on whatever his comment was going to be. I was getting used to watching him on NHK.

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Oh geez,is this a serious question ????? You guys are on the ball today,lol.

Moderator: How about answering it?

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He will be remembered for his failures, unfortunately, most people are. I think he tried too hard to placate too many people/groups. The time spent trying to listen to everyone's opinion before making a decision, caused the delays and some of the bad hatily made at the last minute decisions. I am glad that the DPJ ousted the LDP, and I hope that Hatoyama's attempts to fix the LDP's mess will continue with the new PM. I think that Kamei and his party, and the Socialist Party both caused more than one headache for the DPJ. (Not to mention Mr.Ozawa!) I wonder if the Socialist Party will be a part of the next coalition government...

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9 months...and he has a legacy?

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The pigeon impersonation he did last month... oh, and the Manson-like stare.

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Legacy? Are you kidding me!! Women that are pregnant for nine months and give birth are more of a legacy than this guy. Give me a break!! Don't take it personally.

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Very short.

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Actually the ordinary people frowned at the U.S. arrogance/avarice over the base issue. Pandora's box has been opened which the former governments had tried to leave well alone.

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@Seiharinokaze: How many of these meetings where the U.S. showed such arrogance did you sit in on? From what I read, all the meeting were cordial and the U.S. show cause why they preferred the present relocation plan but gave due consideration to all the other ideas.

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I mean the sentiment of the ordinary people. They witnessed or at least have got the image that the U.S. didn't listen to what the GOJ had proposed out of the voices of the local people. Relocation of the Futenma air base with only 2000 something of USMC is a Pandora's box that not only have scandalized the men in the street of the mainland but also may let the anger and sense of discrimination against GOJ and the US among the people of Okinawa get out of control.

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What do you think Yukio Hatoyama's legacy as prime minister will be?

Written on the head of a pin!

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Has a Japanese PM ever had a legacy?

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aloopy loopy ooh ooh ooh ooh, we gotta go........

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His wife's a great cook. I've tried a couple of her recipes. Yummy!

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PM: a whimpy, whiny, pigeon-holler. PM's wife: still recovering from suspended animation of alien abduction

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