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TOKYO,Aug 01 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Hawkish former Japanese foreign minister Taro Aso returned to a top ruling party position in a reshuffle on Friday, an appointment that could help boost the government's popularity at home but may risk alienating Japan's Asian neighbours. Less than a year ago Aso, 67, firmly distanced himself from Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda after losing to him in a party leadership race.
He turned down a cabinet position and said in a magazine essay that the two were at opposite ends of the party in terms of diplomatic policy and that he would fight on for conservatism.
But on Friday Fukuda made him secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a top role that will become increasingly important in the run-up to the general election that must be held by September next year.
Though his nationalist views clash with Fukuda's doveish attitude towards Japan's Asian neighbours, Aso has one asset Fukuda sorely lacks at present: popularity.
"His appointment is the most eye-catching," said Yasunori Sone, professor at Keio University professor.
"It is sending a clear message that he (Fukuda) wants to win the election with Aso." But he added: "The situation is not one in which the LDP can win under Aso. It's only a bit of a plus."
Aso makes much of his fondness for the manga comics widely read by younger people and his dapper suits and boisterous charm are unusual among Japan's grey political elite.
Mobile phone users can download his picture or ringtones featuring Aso laughing or exhorting them to stop reading comics and check their text messages.
Grandson of one former prime minister and married to the daughter of another, he represented Japan in a shooting event at the Olympics, and is the author of a best-selling book titled "Tremendous Japan."
By keeping him in a domestically focussed party position, Fukuda can perhaps sidestep the kind of furore Aso triggered in the two Koreas in 2003 when he made remarks seen as praising Japan's 1919-1945 colonisation of the peninsula.
Though Japan's long rocky relations with China have improved in the past two years, ties with South Korea are again in a sensitive phase as a long-running territorial dispute over a few rocky islets has flared up.
"It's no secret that Aso is quite hostile towards China, a member of the pro-Taiwan lobby. He has ruffled feathers in a number of ways," Jeff Kingston of Temple University's Tokyo campus said.
But Aso also has a record of offending those closer to home, including once by making a joke about Alzheimer's disease, a sensitive topic in rapidly ageing Japan.
His wealthy background could lead to an accusation, often thrown at Japan's hereditary politicians, that he is out of touch with voters struggling with rising prices and a flagging economy.
Fukuda may be hoping to rein in his rival's leadership ambitions with the party post and Keio's Sone said it would make it tough for him to challenge Fukuda for a chance at the top job.
"If they win the election, Fukuda stays and if they lose, Aso has to quit too," Sone said.
Aso served as foreign minister before taking the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's No. 2 post as secretary-general in a reshuffle a year ago. He left that post after then-prime minister Shinzo Abe quit suddenly in September.
He has served previously as minister for economic planning and for posts and telecommunications.
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