Aso, six others line up so far in Japan PM race

TOKYO (Reuters) - Former foreign minister Taro Aso, frontrunner to become Japan's next leader, faced a growing field of six would-be rivals on Friday, as the ruling party hoped a vibrant leadership race would revive its dismal voter ratings.

Aso, 67, who favors bigger state spending to stimulate an economy now on the brink of recession, formally announced his candidacy to replace outgoing prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, who abruptly quit on Monday.

"My mission will be huge ... I will call for recovery in the economy and allaying people's anxiety," Aso, the No.2 in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), told a news conference.

Analysts said the party wanted a broad range of candidates to persuade voters that a real policy debate was under way and encourage them to forget Fukuda's untimely departure ahead of a possible election.

"They're not serious. They are just playing it as a show, the purpose of which is to fool the electorate into thinking that this is a quasi-general election," said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.

"If Aso emerges as the victor from a lively contest, people may think they should give him a chance if he calls an election."

An LDP leadership election will be held on September 22 and the winner is all but assured of becoming prime minister because of the party's majority in parliament's lower house.

Speculation is mounting that Japan's new leader will call a snap election to take advantage of a likely ratings boost. A poll for the powerful lower house must be held by September 2009.

Fukuda resigned after less than a year in office during which his popularity ratings fell to under 30 percent on doubts about his ability to cope with a divided parliament, where the opposition controls the upper house and can delay legislation.

He was the second prime minister to quit in less than a year.

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Former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba, 51, also announced his candidacy at a news conference on Friday, saying he had secured the necessary backing. He is known as an expert on security policy, but his economic views are unclear.

Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano, who argues that Japan needs to raise its 5 percent consumption tax to fix its tattered finances, looked sure to run against Aso.

Another former defense minister, Yuriko Koike, told reporters that her bid to become the country's first female prime minister was having trouble finding the 20 backers among the party's parliament members needed for a nomination.

"Conditions were set yesterday, the sky was clear," she said. "But I get the feeling that it's getting a little cloudy."

Koike's candidacy is backed by ruling party heavyweight Hidenao Nakagawa, who argues Japan should cut wasteful spending and boost growth through structural reforms before raising taxes.

Former transport minister Nobuteru Ishihara, an advocate of reform of the bureaucracy, was another possible contender.

Others whose names emerged were first-term lawmaker Masaaki Taira, 41, deputy foreign minister Ichita Yamamoto, 50, and fourth-term lawmaker Yasufumi Tanahashi, 45. But it was unclear if all would run.

Candidates' prescriptions for balancing the need to promote economic growth while reining in Japan's massive public debt are dominating attention, but some -- noting that Aso just months ago had called for doubling the consumption tax to finance pensions -- said differences were more apparent than real.

"I don't see a big gap on policy between Yosano and Aso," Finance Minister Bunmei Ibuki told reporters.

"There seems a big difference if you mix up the near-term and medium-term policy objectives they are seeking, but I remember they have proposed policies together in the past."

(Additional reporting by Chisa Fujioka and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Michael Watson)