Katsuya Okada

Okada, 51, a five-term Lower House member who took over the DPJ presidency in May when Naoto Kan resigned after admitting that he had failed to pay pension premiums, will be given a new term through September 2006 at an extraordinary party convention Sept. 13.

Under Okada, the DPJ, which saw large gains in the July 11 Upper House election, is becoming a growing threat to the governing coalition, led by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Liberal-Democratic Party.

The Japan Times Weekly: Sept. 4, 2004
(C) All rights reserved