FACTBOX: Japan's Aso set to be new prime minister

(Reuters) - Outspoken former foreign minister Taro Aso is expected to become Japan's next prime minister after a vote on Monday for a new leader for the main ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Aso would replace outgoing Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who resigned suddenly this month, becoming the second Japanese leader to quit in less than a year.

Below are some facts about Aso, who turned 68 on Saturday.

* Aso, who has served as economic planning minister, has said he would put priority on spending and tax cuts to stimulate Japan's faltering economy over the next three years, a stance that could derail Japan's efforts to rein in its huge public debt, already equal to about 150 percent of GDP.

* An outspoken nationalist, Aso wants to see Japan play a bigger global security role. In 2006, after becoming foreign minister, Aso said there was nothing wrong with discussing whether Japan, the only country to suffer an atomic bombing, should possess nuclear weapons. But he has also said he would stay away from Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead, seen by many in Asia as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

* Born into a wealthy family on the southern island of Kyushu, Aso has an elite political lineage. His grandfather, Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, negotiated the peace treaty ending World War Two, his father-in-law was also a prime minister, and his sister is married to a cousin of Emperor Akihito.

* A rarity among Japan's mostly staid politicians, Aso is a dapper dresser who appeals to fellow fans of "manga" comics and can work a crowd with amusing patter. He has authored two books, one of which, "Tremendous Japan", is a best-seller. He represented Japan in skeet shooting at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

* His brash manner has provoked controversy. Aso was forced to apologize over a flippant remark about Alzheimer's disease last year and he stirred anger in the two Koreas in 2003 for remarks seen as praising Japan's 1919-1945 colonization of the peninsula. He criticized U.S. policy in Iraq in 2007 and said Japanese with their "yellow faces" would be more successful at Middle East diplomacy than "blond, blue-eyed Westerners" since Japan had never exploited the region.

* A Catholic, Aso has advocated respect for traditional Japanese values, including the Shinto-based emperor system.

(Reporting by Isabel Reynolds; Editing by Rodney Joyce)