Ichiro Ozawa, former chief of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), on Thursday accepted DPJ president Yukio Hatoyama's nomination as the party's next secretary general.

The file photo taken on Aug. 30, 2009 shows Ichiro Ozawa, former chief of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), in Tokyo, capital of Japan. Ichiro Ozawa on Thursday accepted DPJ president Yukio Hatoyama's nomination as the party's next secretary general. [Ren Zhenglai/Xinhua]

"Since I'm a party man, I will accept the president's request," Ozawa, who acted as DPJ's campaign manager in the general election and is currently one of the party's acting presidents, was quoted as telling reporters after meeting with Hatoyama at the party headquarters.

Ozawa has been credited with engineering the party's resounding victory in Sunday's House of Representatives election.

On May 11, the former party chief stepped down due to the indictment of his top secretary in the Nishimastsu political funds scandal.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2009)