The race to succeed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shaped up yesterday as a fight between 71-year-old lawmaker Yasuo Fukuda, an advocate of warm ties with Asian neighbours, and hawkish former foreign minister Taro Aso.

Mr Fukuda emerged as the frontrunner after several ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) factions threw their support behind him, but the outspoken Aso vowed to fight to the end.

Japanese media said Mr Abe's charismatic predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, was backing Mr Fukuda while a Kyodo news agency poll said voters favoured Mr Fukuda 28.1 per cent to 18.7 per cent for Mr Aso.

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