Naoto Kan, Finance Minister of Japan

The dollar surged against the Japanese yen in the aftermath of the resignation of increasingly out-of-favor Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his deputy. The likely successor is thought to be Finance Minister Naoto Kan, who is thought to prefer a weaker yen, which would benefit Japan’s exporters. The yen slipped to beyond ¥92.00 per dollar for the first time in two weeks.


Whos is Kan? He was also the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the largest opposition party in the Diet, from 2002 to 2004. Kan was also Minister for Health and Welfare for a time in the 1990s. He is regarded as a possible successor of Yukio Hatoyama, who announced his resignation as Prime Minister of Japan and DPJ leader and the resignation of his backer in the party, Ichiro Ozawa, on June 2, 2010. A party meeting on succession is scheduled June 4. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada is considered another possible successor to Hatoyama.

Born in Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture as the son of businessman, Kan graduated in 1970 from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and opened a patent office in 1974. He actively engaged in civic movements for years and achieved a seat in the lower house in 1980 as a member of Socialist Democratic Federation (SDF) through a grassroots environmental campaign. He gained national popularity in 1996 when as health minister he exposed the minister's responsibility for the spread of tainted blood. At that time, he was a member of a small party forming the ruling coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). His action was completely unprecedented and was applauded by the mainstream media and the public. Kan also wrote a best-selling book Dai-jin (lit. minister) in which he writes that ministers should answer to the Emperor.

On January 6, 2010, he was picked by Yukio Hatoyama to be the new Finance Minister, assuming the post in addition to deputy prime minister.In his first news conference, Kan announced his priority was stimulating growth and took the unusual step of naming a specific dollar-yen level as optimal to help exporters and stimulate the economy. "There are a lot of voices in the business world saying that (the dollar) around ¥95 is appropriate in terms of trade," he said.Hatoyama appeared to rebuke Kan. "When it comes to foreign exchange, stability is desirable and rapid moves are undesirable.