Keeping the politics all in the family

YOKOSUKA, Japan: In Japan's election next month, the two candidates for the prime minister's post are carrying on a family battle that started in the 1950s when their grandfathers were premiers.

The clash of the political bluebloods, incumbent Taro Aso and his rival Yukio Hatoyama, casts a spotlight on Japan's rich and powerful clans that have dominated, and some say stifled, post-war politics.

About one third of Japan's parliamentarians are hereditary politicians - often derided as "botchan" or "babies from rich families" - who inherited their districts and fund-raising bodies from a relative, usually their father.