New Japanese PM is ready to "change history"

BEIJING, Sept. 17 -- Japan's longtime opposition leader, Yukio Hatoyama, was elected as the nation's 93rd prime minister on Wednesday, installing his new Cabinet and promising to reinvigorate the country's economy and shake up its government.

Yukio Hatoyama, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), is greeted after he was elected as Japan's 93rd prime minister by the House of  Representatives in Tokyo, capital of Japan, on Sept. 16, 2009. Following his election in the lower house, the House of Councillors also picked Hatoyama as the new premier. (Xinhua/Ren Zhenglai)

His left-of-center Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) ended more than 50 years of near unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Hatoyama has pledged to smooth Tokyo's often-bumpy relationship with its Asian neighbors and forge a foreign policy that is more independent from Washington.

The new prime minister said he wanted to build a "relationship of trust" with President Barack Obama by exchanging views "frankly". The two leaders will meet next week while Hatoyama is in the US for a UN climate change summit, a General Assembly debate, nuclear non-proliferation talks and the G20 summit.

Hatoyama will then travel to China on Oct 10, for a summit with Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, according to the Kyodo News Agency.