From Friday morning’s Nikkei:

President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team has approached Joseph Nye, a former U.S. assistant secretary of defense during the Clinton administration, to serve as America’s next ambassador to Tokyo, sources close to the matter said Thursday.

The Nikkei comments on how Nye represents a possible shift away from the outlook of the Bush administration:

Nye, a Harvard professor, is a veteran diplomat known for his advocacy of nonmilitary influence, or “soft power,” in pursuing diplomacy, and has criticized President George W. Bush’s heavy reliance on the U.S.’ military prowess. He played a leading role in the review of the U.S.-Japan security arrangement during the Clinton years and is well versed in Japanese affairs.

We also learn that Christopher Hill, who has been representing the US in the ongoing Six Party Talks, is to be replaced by Kurt Campbell, a former assistant secretary of defense. Will this lead to a shift in America’s position on the Japanese abductees to North Korea?

Finally, it also seems likely that Obama will choose Jeffrey Bader, a China expert at the Brookings Institution, as the senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council. If Mr Bader might make the Japanese nervous about the state of the US/Japan alliance going forward, it seems as though Mr Campbell’s appointment is meant to assuage such worries.