TIME/CNN Poll

After becoming leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party last week, Shinzo Abe is all but certain to succeed Junichiro Koizumi as Prime Minister of Japan when Koizumi steps down on Tuesday. The changing of the guard has Japan's neighbors hoping for a thaw following five tempestuous years under Koizumi, whose repeated visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine honoring Japan's war deadamong them, 14 Class-A war criminalscorroded Japan's relations with its neighbors. Although Abe is known for his nationalist leanings, he's refused to say whether he'll visit the shrine as Prime Ministerand Japanese public opinion may be turning against it. In...