Tokyo ? President Bush, worried that Japan’s recession threatens to delay a U.S. recovery, implored Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi today to act quickly on his plans for restructuring the world’s second-largest economy.

Meeting with Koizumi as he opened a six-day tour of Asian capitals, Bush took a delicate approach to prodding the Japanese leader. Bush publicly praised Koizumi as “a great reformer,” but in private, administration officials said, he pressed the Japanese leader to enact the reform agenda he has championed since taking office last April.

“We’ve got great confidence in his ability to lead this country,” Bush said as he met reporters before a one-on-one meeting with Koizumi.

In his dealings with Koizumi, Bush departed from the plain-spoken approach that he has made a trademark. Aides said the president chose an upbeat tone for his visit to this downtrodden economy in the belief that he could do more good by bolstering the credibility of Koizumi, whose popularity has fallen as the economy slides deeper into a recession marked by bankruptcies, record unemployment and a downward price spiral.

Holding the line

Aides said Bush planned to return to a sterner line for the balance of his trip through a region where allies were unsettled by his designation of North Korea as a member of an “axis of evil.” Bush stood by that harsh label today, asserting that European allies “understand our point.”

Heading next to South Korea, Bush plans to try to convince President Kim Dae Jung that his saber-rattling will not further isolate the Communist regime in the North. And when Bush arrives in China at the end of the week, he plans to appeal for greater respect for human rights for Christians and dissidents, some of whom complained that he should have made a more public show of support during an October visit that was cut short by the war in Afghanistan.

Bush has long argued that the Clinton administration’s browbeating of Japanese leaders for their failure to reverse a decadelong economic slide had little effect, and risked alienating leaders of one of America’s most important strategic allies. But so far the Bush stance has not been successful in prodding Japan to action, and some analysts worry that the administration’s congenial tone on this trip will be construed here as a sign of U.S. complacency.

“Bush’s comments have been too restrained,” said Ichizo Ohara, a legislator from Koizumi’s governing Liberal Democratic Party. “He needs to talk tougher… . It’s only natural that he would call on Japan to play a more constructive role” in contributing to global growth.

Troubled leadership

Koizumi, who appeared to develop a chummy relationship with Bush during three meetings last year, took office with promises to lift the Japanese economy through a package of measures, including deregulation of inefficient industries, restraint in government spending and forcing banks to write off bad loans.

But his pace has been slow. Bush administration officials have made clear that they are deeply concerned about Japan’s reluctance to take more aggressive steps to help Japan’s banks emerge from a mountain of unprofitable loans. Koizumi has pledged that his government would force banks to cut off inefficient borrowers to free up capital for stronger firms. But in his 10 months as prime minister, the total of bad loans has only mounted.

Trying to bolster public support for an important trading partner and national security ally, Bush softened his message by highlighting the slowdown in the U.S. economy and casting his request to Koizumi as a team effort to steady world markets.

In a brief appearance with Koizumi today, before a private meeting and working lunch, Bush offered praise for the Japanese leader’s efforts to revive the economy. “I’m planning on talking about what a great reformer he is … how we’ve got great confidence in his ability to lead this country,” Bush said.

Earlier, Bush said he would tell the prime minister that the Japanese economy must restructure and deal with a record number of bad bank loans.

On Friday in Washington, Bush said, “I am more than confident that the prime minister understands this and is willing to make difficult decisions. There needs to be a focused effort on the government’s part to follow through on the reforms that he’s outlined.”

Low profile

In contrast to Clinton’s aerobic-paced shopping and tourism when he traveled abroad, Bush and first lady Laura Bush are not scheduled to leave the capitals or to mix with citizens in spontaneous settings beyond two visits to restaurants. The first lady went to a Tokyo elementary school today to pursue her literacy agenda by reading to pupils with Princess Takamado, who is married to a cousin of Japanese Emperor Akihito.

In the first public event of his trip, Bush paid a potentially controversial visit this morning to the Meiji Jingu shrine, a popular locale for weddings that honors the emperor who restored imperial power in 1867 following the military rule of the shoguns. Japan dramatically Westernized during this period, and the Shinto shrine is seen by many other Asian countries as a reminder of the country’s nationalistic and imperialist past. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice defended the visit, saying the shrine was “a symbol of Japan’s ability to cherish its culture as it embraces the modern world.”

Later, Koizumi presided over a demonstration of yabusame archery on horseback and presented Bush a woodblock print depicting a yabusame archer.