JAPAN'S new prime minister admits he is no Mr Charisma - Yoshihiko Noda likens himself to a marine bottom-feeder rather than a glittering goldfish. But that, he says, is his appeal.

新一屆日本首相野田佳彥坦言自己并非魅力先生——他將自己比作水底的泥鰍而不是閃閃發光的金魚。但是他說，這正是他魅力所在。

The 54-year-old, who as finance minister kept to plodding statements so as not to spook financial markets, stresses his credentials as a responsible, moderate and middle-of-the road leader at a time of national crisis.

54歲的野田佳彥強調在國家面臨危機之時，他的角色是一個負責任的、溫和的、走中間路線的領導人。在任財務相時，他一直秉承穩健的主張，避免使金融市場受到驚嚇。

When he announced his candidacy in an essay in a conservative magazine this month, Mr Noda said: "I am an ordinary man. I do not have large financial resources... I am not stylish and my looks are not my selling point."

本月他在一本保守主義雜志上撰文，宣布自己將參選首相。他說：“我是一個普通人。我沒有那么大的財政資源。我不時尚，相貌也沒什么賣點。”

On Monday, making his final pitch for the leadership of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, he used the fish metaphor, humbly telling his fellow DPJ MPs: "I am a loach. I can't be a goldfish."

周一，在競選當政的日本民主黨黨首的最后講演中，他用了金魚的比喻，謙遜地告訴他的民主黨國會議員說：“我是一條泥鰍，不可能成為一條金魚。”

The son of a paratrooper in the Self-Defence Forces, Noda, a married father of two, holds broadly conservative political views.

野田佳彥是自衛隊一名傘兵的兒子，已婚，是兩個孩子的父親。政治觀點上，他持明顯的保守立場。