New Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan promises to rebuild country

Fifth leader in four years voted in by ruling Democrats after Yukio Hatoyama's resignation over economy and US airbase

Naoto Kan said he wants to forge ahead with plans to create a strong east Asian community modelled on the EU. Photograph: KeystoneUSA-ZUMA / Rex Features

• Justin McCurry in Tokyo
• guardian.co.uk,
• The Japanese finance minister who started his political career as a straight-talking former civic activist today became the country's fifth prime minister in less than four years.
  Naoto Kan beat his only rival, the relatively unknown Shinji Tarutoko, in a vote among MPs of the ruling Democratic party. He immediately promised to "rebuild the country" as it confronts economic stagnation, mounting public debt and regional instability.
  The leadership election was called after the resignation on Wednesday of Yukio Hatoyama, following his humiliating climbdown over the location of a US airbase and his failure to stamp out sleaze in his own party.
  Kan, 63, vowed to rebuild Japan's battered public finances, foster growth and promote regional stability amid growing fears about Chinese military power and tensions on the Korean peninsula.
  "My task is to rebuild this nation," said Kan, who was later confirmed as prime minister in the Democrat-dominated lower house. Media reports said he would wait until early next week before naming a cabinet.
  With key upper house elections only weeks away, Kan implored party members to re-engage with the voters who had elected them by a landslide last August, ending more than 50 years of almost uninterrupted rule by the conservative Liberal Democratic party.
  "We will work together as one in the face of the tough political situation ... and fight as a united force," he said.
  Kan offered placatory words to the US, whose intransigence over the relocation of Futenma airbase was a major factor in his predecessor's downfall.
  During last year's election campaign, Hatoyama had promised to move the marine corps' Futenma base off Okinawa but, under pressure from the White House, was forced to accept an original agreement to move it from its city centre location to a more remote site on the island's north coast.
  Kan described relations with the US as "vital", but said he would forge ahead with plans to create an east Asian community modelled on the EU. "While the US-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of our diplomacy, we must also work for the prosperity of the Asian region," he said.
  He repeated Hatoyama's pledge to cut Japan's greenhouse gas emissions by 25% over the next 10 years from 1990 levels.
  Analysts said Kan's immediate focus should be Japan's stuttering economy. An export-led recovery is under way thanks to demand in China, but Japan is battling deflation and unemployment, and a public debt that, according to some estimates, is around 200% of GDP.
  As Hatoyama's finance minister, Kan favoured a weaker yen and pressured Japan's central bank to take a more active role in fighting deflation. Unlike his predecessor, he has not ruled out what would doubtlessly be an unpopular rise in the consumption [sales] tax to meet ballooning health and welfare costs.
  "Kan taking office will be good for a weaker yen but he is considering raising the consumption tax, which will have a negative impact on the stock market," said Yoshikiyo Shimamine, chief economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo.
  "If he fully advocates fiscal reform over a growth strategy, it would be difficult for the government to secure funds for some of the party's policies, such as allowances for families with children."
  The political turmoil of the last few days has heightened investor anxiety over whether the new government will delay its plans, due out later this month, to rein in public debt and encourage growth.
  After Hatoyama's resignation, just eight months after taking office, the Democrats are hoping that Kan's arrival will herald a period of stability and boost their flagging fortunes five weeks before upper house elections.
  Although the party has a large majority in the more powerful lower house, significant losses next month will force it to court smaller parties if it wants to maintain a majority in the second chamber and push through key legislation.
  New poll figures suggested the departure of Hatoyama, and his scandal-tainted general secretary, Ichiro Ozawa, had already lifted the party's fortunes.
  A poll conducted on Wednesday by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper found that support for the Democrats had increased to 29%, up 9 points from last weekend, but still well down on the 70% they enjoyed last September.