
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 9, 1991                   TAG: 9104090158
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: TOKYO                                LENGTH: Short

RULING PARTY LEADER RESIGNS IN JAPAN

Ichiro Ozawa, the national chairman of the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party, who was widely viewed as the most powerful man in the Japanese government, resigned Monday after the party was embarrassed in Sunday's Tokyo gubernatorial election.

The resignation of Ozawa - who had used his party role and his strong influence over Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu to build a formidable political base - left the party badly splintered. Ozawa himself said Monday that the dominant party is "in a chaotic state."

The development came on the verge of a long-awaited visit by Mikhail Gorbachev, who next week will become the first Soviet head of state ever to visit Japan.

It also came as the government is struggling to coalesce on plans to soothe the tense state of U.S.-Japanese relations.

Kaifu, with his chief patron leaving his party post, seems likely to face a tough time trying to build coalitions in dealing with those concerns.

As Japan's hesitant response during the Persian Gulf War showed, Kaifu has not been able to bring about any policy change that is even slightly unpopular.

by CNB