First would-be female PM marks shift in Japan

By Isabel Reynolds

TOKYO (Reuters) - She's less likely to hog the headlines than Sarah Palin, but former defence minister Yuriko Koike made an equally bold bid for power on Monday, as she launched an attempt to become Japan's first woman prime minister.

A telegenic former newscaster fluent in English and Arabic, Koike, 56, emphasised her plans to tackle women's issues and the environment as well as administrative reform at a news conference in Tokyo.

"Women often want to work while still looking after their families, but it's hard for them to get the chance," Koike, who is single and childless, told reporters.

"I want to deal with women's issues on a cross-party basis. That will unleash the potential energy of women and make Japan an energetic country," she said.

Koike lags far behind the favourite, former foreign minister Taro Aso, in opinion polls and cannot hope to command the kind of media attention surrounding Palin, Republican John McCain's surprise pick for running mate in the November U.S. presidential elections.

Standing for leadership of the tradition-bound ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and thus the premiership, is a daring move for a female, but Koike said she believed she had the necessary backing of 20 lawmakers to stand.

"It is a sign of change in Japanese society, and also of her own qualities," Kuniko Inoguchi, a fellow female LDP lawmaker and supporter, told reporters after listening to Koike speak.

Japan ranked 54th out of 177 countries in terms of women's economic and political power in a United Nations survey for 2007-2008 -- way behind most major industrialised countries.