The man expected to be Japan's next prime minister
Yukio Hatoyama has held
his party's election victory as a revolution.
Exit polls suggest the center left Democratic Party of Japan
has won by landslide,
crushing the liberal democrats
who have dominated Japanese politics for half a century.
Roland Buerk reports from Tokyo.
Japan has now beginning a process
that has only been through once before
since 1955 the transition of power from liberal democratic party
to a new government.
Yukio Hatoyama must nice steer
the world second biggest economy back to sustainable growth
after a crushing recession
and tackle record unemployment.
The Democratic Party plans to forge a diplomacy less subservient
to the United States, and improve relations with its Asian neighbors.
They've also promised
to expand the welfare state,
even though Japan is already deeply indebted,
and rapidly aging population
is straining social security budgets.