Yasuo Fukuda

TOKYO • Thousands of Japanese gathered in central Tokyo for a glimpse of their next prime minister yesterday, cheering, waving and frantically taking pictures with mobile phones.

Both 71-year-old lawmaker Yasuo Fukuda and hawkish former foreign minister Taro Aso drew excited applause as they climbed atop a van for campaign speeches in Tokyo's trendy Shibuya shopping district, their voices blaring from loudspeakers.

"We cannot achieve big reforms without the people's trust so what we must first do is restore trust," said Fukuda, who along with Aso, 66, is vying to succeed unpopular Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after his abrupt decision to resign last week.

The soft-spoken Fukuda is widely expected to beat Aso in a September 23 ruling party leadership election that will effectively choose the country's next prime minister.

Many voters said Fukuda, with his serious manner, was best suited to succeed Abe, whose scandal-ridden cabinet was blamed for his ruling party's huge defeat in an upper house election in July.

"I support Fukuda because he appears to be trustworthy," said Hideko Ichizuki, a 72-year-old housewife, who braved the late summer heat to hear the candidates speak.

Others said Fukuda, an advocate of a less US-oriented foreign policy, was a welcome change after the conservative Abe, whose pet project was to revise Japan's pacifist constitution.

"Fukuda appears to be intelligent and he has balanced views," said Yoshihiro Masuda, 40, who owns an IT company.

"He's not someone who will do something extreme."

The outspoken Aso, however, also had fans in the crowd, which media reports said numbered more than 10,000.

"Aso is easier to understand," said Kento Kudo, 29, a consultant.

"It's better for a politician to express his views in a way that people can understand."

Although he has a record for gaffes, Aso is known for his ability to work a crowd-a key quality analysts say the ruling party will be looking for in choosing their next leader in case there is an early election for parliament's lower house.

Aso also commands a following among youth who relate to his his love for Japanese "manga" comic books.

"He has a great personality," said Yoshiyuki Yamada, 28. "I like how he's trying to get young people interested in politics by speaking about manga."

But university student Hiroshi Tamezawa, 21, said voters' opinions may not matter, since the ruling party leader, and hence the prime minister, is decided by a vote among the party's members.

"In the end, I wonder how much voter support for the candidates really matters," he said.