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Japanese government spokesman resigns

Yasuo Fukuda, who resigned yesterday as Japan's top government spokesman after admitting he had skipped payments into the state pension scheme, was a force to be reckoned with in Tokyo's corridors of power.

The 67-year-old Fukuda, who became the longest-serving chief Cabinet secretary last month, not only had the trust and confidence of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi but had extended his influence beyond domestic politics into foreign policy.

"He more than makes up for my shortcomings. I depend on him," Koizumi said about Fukuda last month.

Japan's chief Cabinet secretary is traditionally the top government spokesman. Fukuda assumed the post in December 2000, under Koizumi's unpopular predecessor, Yoshiro Mori.

"It's quite clear that most of the levers of foreign policy decision-making now seem to be in his hands, certainly on the big issues such as North Korea and Iraq," one Western diplomat said recently, referring to Japan's tense ties with its communist neighbor and a decision to send troops to Iraq.

"If Koizumi is the instinctive politician, Fukuda is the bureaucratic master who makes things happen," the diplomat added.

The bespectacled Fukuda's bland, if somewhat testy, image contrasts sharply with that of the outgoing, wavy-haired Koizumi.

But without Fukuda's staunch support, analysts say, Koizumi's grip on power would probably have been far less tight. Koizumi came to power in April 2001, vowing painful economic reforms that were anathema to powerful interests in his own ruling party.

Fukuda, the son of late prime minister Takeo Fukuda, is a key member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) faction led by Mori, who was Koizumi's one-time mentor.

Support from that group has been important for Koizumi, despite his image as a maverick in the multi-bloc party.

Japan's chief Cabinet secretary, sometimes called the premier's "wife," has always been more than a mere mouthpiece.
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