Miyazaki's new man has yet to face tough game of politics

Until a few weeks ago, it was impossible for most Japanese to envisage Sonomanma Higashi as anything other than a rubber-faced comedian - and usually the fall-guy - on anarchic game shows and late-night quizzes. He wore monkey suits with floppy ears, never a tailored suit, which makes the transformation he has pulled off without a hitch all the more stunning.

On Sunday, 266,807 people in Miyazaki prefecture voted the former funny man with the winning smile into the office of governor. His nearest rival, a former bureaucrat with the Forestry Agency, had just over 195,000 votes. The message was clear: the people of this rural prefecture, on the southern island of Kyushu, were fed up with politicians and they wanted one of their own in charge.

But Mr Higashi, 49, who chose to run under his real name, Hideo Higashikokubaru, was not simply the default candidate. He ran an excellent campaign and focused on issues that affected the daily lives of his constituents, as well as vowing to tackle the corruption that has blighted the prefecture.

He accepts that he has a lot to learn, but he believes not being a politician is a major plus.

'When I look at the 'experienced politicians' who have been in charge here in the past, I can only see them as rigid and hidebound,' Mr Higashi said. 'They were most afraid of failure and they were not able to react to situations flexibly.

'The prefectural administration that I want to introduce and operate will not be held down with wires. I want it to have free ideas and I feel sure I will be able to remain flexible. I want to see that throughout the entire management of the prefecture.'