The Liberal Democratic Party may have voted strongly in favor of Shinzo Abe as its new president, but opinion on the street was clearly divided between those excited by his victory and those concerned about his future as prime minister.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Mitsuaki Umeda, 77, was glad Abe won the vote and expects him to bring back something he says has been missing from Japanese politics -- autonomy.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'Abe knows what he wants, in contrast with Prime Minister –

Koizumi or (Democratic Party of Japan President) Ichiro Ozawa. I don't understand why the media consider him hawkish," Umeda said.

Eini Okubo, 72, also backed Abe, saying the new leader has "more common sense then Koizumi" and that he will be able to build a strong country that is not influenced by other countries.

Mitsuko Kudo, a 53-year-old housewife, had mixed opinions.

"To be honest I wasn't interested in any of the three candidates, but Abe was probably the best choice because he can continue on the same path of the reforms Prime Minister Koizumi started," Kudo said.