An opinion piece by Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama published in The New York Times has drawn flak in America over its apparent antiglobalization bent, prompting the presumptive prime minister to argue portions of his essay were "distorted" in translation.

The piece, originally published in the September edition of the Japanese monthly journal Voice and titled "My Political Philosophy," appeared Aug. 27 on The New York Times' Web site under the headline "A New Path for Japan."

The essay was also used by the International Herald Tribune and Christian Science Monitor.