A SERIES of cool old dude （酷老头） dolls has become popular with young Japanese people. The old dude is not from a comic book but Japan""s new prime minister （首相）, Taro Aso.

　　Last Wednesday 68-year-old Aso took over from former （以前的） prime minister Yasuo Fukuda （福田康夫）. Fukuda left his post earlier this month. He failed to deal with the country""s problems.

　　Aso comes from a family of politicians （政治家）. His grandfather and father-in-law （岳父） were both prime ministers of Japan. Aso lost three races for prime minister. On this, his fourth try, he has made it.u

　　Although he comes from a rich family, Aso""s colorful personality makes him quite popular among Japanese people. He was an Olympic sharpshooter （神枪手） at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada.

　　But Aso is perhaps best known for his favorite hobby ? reading comic books. While he was studying at Stanford University in the US, the young man had his family send him manga （漫画） magazines. Even now, in his 60s, he reads 10 or 20 manga magazines a week and knows a lot about comics.

　　As Minister for Foreign Affairs （外相） in 2007, Aso set up the International Manga Award for non-Japanese manga artists. He said that Japan could influence （影响） the world through its popular culture.

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　　Bonus

　　如何表达喜爱？

　　1. I""m a fan of Jay Chou.

　　2. I""m crazy about hip hop.

　　3. I enjoy reading comic books.

　　4. My favorite movies are thrillers.