Would you like to see Taro Aso replaced as Japan's prime minister, and if so, who do you think would do a better job?

Would you like to see Taro Aso replaced as Japan's PM? No, we need entertainment and he provide most needed laughter in times of severe economic depression.

Yes, I would like to see him replaced but there is no one better. Maybe Yuriko Koike. It would be nice to have a woman as PM. But opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa would be a shocker as PM. What I would really like to see is Japan allow people to vote directly for prime minister. At least then, someone with charisma might run.

Bring back Koizumi. At least he was entertaining, dancing with Richard Gere, doing the Elvis jig, riding Segways, etc.

Yes. Me.

For some reason I misread the title as "Would you like to see Taro Aso replaced by a lobster, and if so, who do you think would do a better job?" Difficult to answer that one.

Social Welfare Minister Masuzoe...and there's no use changing the top guy if the same old clowns are running the show from behind the scenes. Abe, Aso, Mori, Yanagisawa, Hatoyama - all these guys need to be purged and bring some competent people in.

The DPJ offer nothing better, as far as I can see.

Bart Simpson could do a better job than any of the corrupt, drunk J Pollies.

For quite a few years now, qualities like "competence" or "intelligence" have not been treated as prerequisites for the position. I think once the Tokyo U. faculty of Law or Economics-Bureaucrat-Minister escalator system of ascending to prime minister came to an end (with Kiichi Miyazawa), it's been downhill ever since. Three of the last four prime ministers were sons or grandsons of former prime ministers; the fourth (Koizumi) was a 3rd generation politician. Voters are to be blamed as well, since all they seem to be able to send to the Diet are men like Abe and Aso -- heirs to their family fiefdoms. Where is elitism when we need it?

KOIZUMI!!!

who cares? they are all the same.

I think Kitty Chan would make a great premier - she's already Japan's best ambassador, and like the Japanese political system, she's a foreign import.

Someone from SMAP.

Yes.

Anyone. My pet guppy could do a better job, and is better-looking.

Interesting how so many people on this site criticize Aso and want to see him gone, yet so few of you can name a replacement. Instead, we get nonsense like pet guppy, SMAP, Kitty Chan, Bart Simpson, and so on. Show some common sense, otherwise you look foolish.

My vote would also go to Yuriko Koike.

On a more serious note, MacArthur. On an even more serious note, Obama (since MacArthur is dead). If you have to choose one of the local incompetents, then Masuzoe (or Lion Onishi).

I find it very odd that Aso is ruling the country without any mandate what-so-ever. He wasn't elected to the post by the people. He wasn't even elected by his own party...he was simply the last man standing.

I'd like to see the Japanese public wake up and pay attention to their political system, and stop the oligarchy. Don't just replace Aso with another LDP elder. Replace the LDP entirely.

Replacing him with another LDP member would probably not make much of a difference. I think Japan should look for someone that has been successful in another area. Perhaps a former baseball manager or a University president. Just my 2 yens worth

The answer is no as there is no one to replace him. The PM's performance depends for a great deal on the team he works with. Japanese politics have been dominated for ages by interest groups, each little faction fighting for and squabbling over their rights and ideas. I always hear 'kokumin this, kokumin that'. Balderdash. Those who use the terms only think about their own constituencies, not about the nation. More cooperation among the political parties, governing and opposing, is the solution.

Make the job redundant and replace the PM with a subcommittee of ruling party members on a rotating leadership. Oh sorry, they did that already?

Makiko Tanaka! I could just see her grabbing Kim Jong Illness by the throat and saying "give me the abductees or I'll show you how a human rights violation feels."

who do you think would do a better job?

almost anyone, hell even Mori

I think they need a person from another country to do the job. Then the Japanese would grasp that something has gone truly wrong over the last 60 years, then they'll perk and get their act together.

Failing that, I think Winnie the Pooh would be an equally viable choice as the whole country loves him. That of course would lead us to the next problem of who to put inside the suit ...

Aaaaaarrrrrnold! He'll terminate any and all that oppose him!

If he's not available, Anpanman will do.

S

Razor, the reason few people have made suggestions is that there are no defined leaders out there waiting to step into the position and lead. Your suggestion of Yuriko Koike is a vote for more of the same poor LDP leadership we've seen for ages in Japan.

What Japan needs is new leadership. It needs to see the corrupt rule of the LDP removed. And more importantly not replaced with a new corruption by another name.

Yet the sad reality is that there are no leaders out there today who are prepared to do what is necessary to rebuild Japan. Otherwise you would see more names here.

Yuriko Koike would be better than Aso but restriced by the same party limitations. And she is not likely to enjoy adequate support to significantly change things.

We need new blood in politics in Japan. And that means looking for new faces outside the current party structures. Let the hunt begin.

Would you like to see Taro Aso replaced as Japan's PM? No, we need entertainment and he provide most needed laughter in times of severe economic depression.

We need someone who has a coherent idea how to run a country properly and solve its problems. If I need to laugh at something I'll rent a comedy DVD. As matters stand I do not think any of the legislators who might be contenders for the PM's job have any commitment to making the changes that Japan needs as they seem to be completely blind to the country's most fundamental problems.

Yes, he is just a clown. The problem is that there is no a qualified replacement, the system of gobernament of J only promote corruption and inepts that have no real idea of what a policy means. We run on autopilot, but the bureaucrats dont know how to make changes on an obsolete economic model. Desesperate times, need desesperate solutions, time for re-write the constitution and change the PM for a president that we can vote. Then maybe the politicians pay more attention to the needs of the voters.

Bring back Koizumi.

I did talk to people in the US Govt. here on the West Coast, and I have a hard time figuring out who would want to be PM? Japan lost the war, and the control over Japan seems overbearing. It's not something commonly talked about, but the terms, "on" and "giri" comes to mind. In English, something like, "honor" and "duty". PM Aso tries very hard to function in his position, but the period we all live in negates his effort. Ganbare to all PMs.

You know that nose in Sleepers?

Nuff said.

Someone with a gimmick or catch phrase like "gets" or "Whooooo!" They could put them on TV every night. They would be so popular and people would become happy and start shopping again. Someone the Japanese people can identify with. Not some old codger.

Desesperate times, need desesperate solutions, time for re-write the constitution and change the PM for a president that we can vote. Then maybe the politicians pay more attention to the needs of the voters.

The current situation highlights a more fundamental problem. The Japanese political system allows for a bicameral legislature in which one house is only really more powerful than the other while its biggest party has a two thirds majority. This isn't really a problem when the same party has majorities in both houses, of course, but that's not the situation at the moment and there's no way the LDP are going to control two thirds of the lower house even if they do manage a win in the next election. So there's more chaos on the way unless the DPJ win outright. Having said all that, a directly elected Prime Minister could be someone with the power to break ties, so it's not a bad idea.

Japan is ungovernable. None of them has the country's interests at heart. I don't think they even get the notion of governing a country.

The only man for the job is Toyama Koichi. Check out his campaign video for the Tokyo-to gubernatorial race on youtube. He'd fix Japan Inc's profits--PERMANENTLY.

Hey..seriously, I think Beat Takeshi should be the PM. But again, he's be kicked out soonest they found about all the women he's slept with...lol

No. Keep him for now.

Is there any wonder Japan's political and economic situation is in so much trouble when all the politicians do is argue about who should be running the country. Hand the country over to the yaks. At least they have stable leadership.

Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo. Sure, he doesn't exist, but he'd still do a better job.

Ask beg?)former PM Junichiro Koizumi to come back.

...The Japanese political system allows for a bicameral legislature in which one house is only really more powerful than the other...

Correct me if I am wrong, but people say that one chamber is stronger than the other because they are the only one that decide who is the next PM.

Of course, and Koike Yuriko, just for a change of pace.

He is like the 'Balkenende' (google)of Japan...a replacement would be wonderful, Kitano Takeshi is the perfect candidate for it... (^^)

I think Beat Takeshi should be the PM.

He could do it -- if only he would!

Kitano Takeshi is the perfect candidate for it... (^^)

Yes, he's the people's candidate.

Yes I want Aso replaced, and any corpse would have more life and intelligence than Aso.

I can't come up with anyone 'cause none of those in the cabinet is the best fit. Personally, I don't want to see him leave the office too soon. I'm very amused by his blunder and mis-statement. That's really cracking me up so hard.