World Notes Japan

To the Tokyo press, she is the Japanese Thatcher. To the Japan Socialist Party, the country's largest opposition force, she is simply the leader. Takako Doi, 57, gained that role last week when the Socialists elected her party chairman. A seven-term member of the Diet, or national parliament, Doi became the first Japanese woman to head a major political party.

She must now rebuild a crippled opposition. The Socialists suffered a major setback in July, when Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone's ruling Liberal Democrats won a historic 59% of the seats in the lower house of the Diet. For his part, Nakasone seemed to relish the prospect of facing a female Socialist leader. Said he: "I am a feminist, so I would treat her very nicely."