2 hours agoTOKYO (AFP) — Nicknamed "Mr. Clean" for his battle against corruption in Japan's scandal-hit politics, Katsuya Okada is widely seen by the public as a potential future candidate for the country's leadership.
At 56, Okada is known for refusing all types of gifts, from large donations by lobbyists to chocolates on Valentine's Day.
The vice president of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Okada has been described as the white knight who could still save his party's reputation after its president Ichiro Ozawa was recently embroiled in a corruption scandal.
Photo: The vice president of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Katsuya OkadaOnly months from a general election that could see the DPJ snatch power from the conservative ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the opposition chief -- once widely tipped to be the next premier -- is in hot water.
While Ozawa has said he would fight on after the indictment of a top aide for allegedly accepting illegal funds from a public-works company, his reluctance to step down has jeopardised the party's popularity.
But Okada, who himself was the party's head in 2004 and 2005, refuses to discuss whether Ozawa may eventually resign, a move that majorities of up to 80 percent of voters have supported, according to opinion polls.
"Everyone in the party needs to support the leader whom we elected. We need to use all our efforts to persuade this 80 percent of Japanese," he told AFP recently in his Tokyo office.
Okada equally refused to speculate on his eventual nomination as party chief if Ozawa steps down -- a scenario which would make the party's popularity shoot up, according to political analysts.
He admits nonetheless that having elections very soon would complicate the chances for a DPJ victory, although the opposition has clamored for Japan to go to the polls before a September deadline.
"I think that it's preferable to have more time," he said.
Only Japan's conservative premier Taro Aso has the authority to dissolve the lower house and to call elections.
His public support rate has fallen sharply since his nomination last September. Aso has been criticised within his party, which worries it may lose the almost uninterrupted grip on power it has held for the past half a century.
Okada laments that the Japanese public has been increasingly disaffected with a political system they regard as tainted with money.
"I have been fighting for transparency for 20 years. I think many things have changed, but it's still insufficient," he said.
Disillusioned Japanese voters have frequently opted to vote for independent candidates, the so-called "tarento," a term for comedians and television hosts.
"It's one symptom of the Japanese people's deception," Okada said, while noting that some "tarento"-turned-governors had done their jobs well.
Okada, a charismatic man who keeps fit with several gym visits a week, is the opposite of a "tarento." Reserved, he is tight-lipped about commenting on his private life and family.
His father is the founder of Aeon, which in 50 years has become the second largest retailer in the country. But Okada denies being rich.
"When I was five years old, my father had only one store. He taught me to respect ordinary people, because they were clients. That's why, contrary to Mr. Aso or Abe, I did not go to private schools, but only public schools."
Aso and former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who stepped down in 2007 after only one year in office, are both from families that have been wealthy for several generations.
Loyal to his principles, the only gifts Okada keeps are the ones he buys for himself -- frog figurines that he has collected since his teens and which decorate his office.
"Some were offered to me, that's true. But practically all are souvenirs from my trips," he said. "Why frogs? I don't have a particular reason, but don't you find them cute?"
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