Japan's centre-left Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama tearfully resigned today in the wake of a row over an unpopular US airbase. He ended more than half a century of conservative rule in an electoral victory last August, but soon earned a reputation for crippling indecision at the helm of the world's second-biggest economy. The 63-year-old millionaire Hatoyama quit at a meeting of his Democratic Party of Japan, blaming the air base dispute and political funding scandals.Finance Minister Naoto Kan, 63, who is a Deputy Prime Minister, was widely tipped to succeed Hatoyama and in the afternoon declared his intention to take over the party leadership in a vote on Friday.