The prime minister got an earful too from the United States, which used to cite him as the kind of assertive leader Japan needs.

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"Mr. Abe is seen as being a more assertive Japanese leader, but they may wonder what he will do when faced with two such challenges, " said Narushige Michishita, a Northeast Asia security expert at Japan's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

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This type of assertive behavior is exactly what we would expect from a strong leader.

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Words that were thrown out when groups were asked to describe attributes of a male leader were: strong, arrogant, intelligent, ego-driven, bravado, powerful, dominant, assertive, single tasking, focused, competitive, stubborn, physical, self-righteous and direct.

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