Yasuo Fukuda took office as Japan’s prime minister Wednesday, promising to use his skills as a negotiator to win approval for extending Tokyo’s contentious mission in support of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The 71-year-old, who studied backroom politics at the knee of his prime minister father, cast himself as the steady hand Japan needs after the scandal-scarred one-year term of his youthful predecessor Shinzo Abe, who abruptly resigned two weeks ago. Full Story