UPDATE 1-Japan incoming finmin Fujii: current FX moves mild

(For more stories on Japan's new government, click [ID:nECONJP])

TOKYO, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Incoming Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said on Wednesday that he is opposed to intervention as long as market moves are moderate and that current currency moves are not rapid.

"I can't think other countries will conduct joint intervention even though the yen rises slightly," Fujii, 77, told reporters in parliament.

His comments drove the Japanese yen about 0.5 percent higher to around 90.50 per dollar JPY= as they fueled speculation that Japan's new ruling Democrats are more tolerant of a higher yen than the outgoing Liberal Democratic Party.

Fujii repeated his view that a strong yen has merits for Japan's economy, echoing views shared among some Democratic Party lawmakers that Japan should start thinking of a strong yen as being in its interest, a departure from traditional thinking that a weak yen helps exports.

Japan's Yukio Hatoyama was voted in as prime minister by parliament's lower house on Wednesday, ushering in an untested government to deal with a struggling economy and the deep-seated problems of a fast-ageing population. [ID:nSP530769]

Hatoyama's choice of the veteran lawmaker as finance minister has soothed some analysts' concerns that the government's spending programmes will inflate an already huge public debt. [ID:nT307511]

Fujii is expected to be formally announced as finance minister later in the day. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto)