Japan's next PM Noda believes charisma isn't everything

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's next prime minister admits he is no Mr Charisma - Yoshihiko Noda likens himself to a marine bottom-feeder rather than a glittering goldfish. But that, he says, is his appeal.

The 54-year-old, who as finance minister has kept to plodding statements so as not to spook financial markets, stresses his credentials as a responsible, moderate and middle-of-the road leader at a time of national crisis.

When he announced his candidacy in an essay in a conservative magazine this month, Mr Noda said: 'I am an ordinary man. I do not have large financial resources... I am not stylish and my looks are not my selling point.'

On Monday, making his final pitch for the leadership of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, he used the fish metaphor, humbly telling his fellow DPJ lawmakers: 'I am a loach. I can't be a goldfish.'