But, without criticising Mr Koizumi's trips to the shrine, Mr Machimura now says he may stop his own.

ECONOMIST: Japan

Mr Koizumi's annual visits to the shrine have infuriated Japan's neighbours, and Mr Machimura likes to go there too.

ECONOMIST: Japan

Those special advisers must get along with the new foreign minister, Nobutaka Machimura, who may not be content just to run the bureaucracy and make nice speeches.

ECONOMIST: Japan

Three other candidates contested the leadership - Nobuteru Ishihara, son of Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, Nobutaka Machimura, the former foreign minister, and Yoshimasa Hayashi, another former defence minister.

BBC: Japan ex-PM Shinzo Abe elected opposition leader

Nobutaka Machimura, the leader of the biggest faction, who had served for a month as Mr Abe's foreign minister, becomes Mr Fukuda's chief cabinet secretary and in effect government gatekeeper.

ECONOMIST: Japan's new prime minister