Factional Struggle for Succession Gene Gregory SINCE the end of the Second World War, changes of government leaders in Japan have evoked little interest abroad. The world had not yet gained an awareness of Japan's economic prowess in 1964 when Eisaku Sato succeeded the late Hayato Ikeda to the premiership, a post he has held longer than any other political leader in modern Japanese history. China had not yet exploded its first atomic bomb, and the fortunes of the world still seemed to be determined by the antics of the two super powers, the United States and the Soviet Union. In such a world, there was no question of where Japan stood and what its role would be.
