THE election of Yohei Kono as the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) signifies it is placing its bets on a younger heavyweight to counter the populist appeal of prime minister-to-be, Morihiro Hosokawa.
It also shows that the LDP Old Guard are losing their grip on the party, and factional considerations have diminished.
Mr Kono, 56, defeated his only opponent - former foreign minister Michio Watanabe - by 208 to 159 votes in the party caucus.
By the unwritten rules of LDP factionalism, Mr Kono's victory was a surprise as he does not lead a faction himself, and comes from the faction led by retiring LDP president Kiichi Miyazawa.
Potential popularity seems to have been more important. Mr Kono was one of the ''Three Arrows'', the speakers from the second generation of LDP leaders who were most in the news in the general election.
But the generation gap within the LDP over reform was probably more important. Mr Watanabe had long opposed reform and very likely his vote largely consisted of the Old Guard.
Mr Kono, who as Chief Cabinet Secretary was the chief government spokesman during the second Miyazawa administration, has all along advocated political reform. His elevation to the party leadership may well have the effect of reducing LDP defections to the new coalition of former opposition parties due to take office next week.