Yukio Hatoyama, who as leader of Japan's opposition Democratic Party is likely to become the nation’s next prime minister, has harsh words for U.S. economic policy.

He criticizes “U.S.-led market fundamentalism” and vows to protect Japan from globalization run amuck in an essay in the Japanese magazine Voice, the Financial Times reports.

Hatoyama also says Japan should take part in a regional currency union and political integration.

Opinion polls show his DPJ party with a wide lead over the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the Aug. 30 general election.

In the magazine essay, Hatoyama says the global economy has “damaged traditional economic activities,” and market fundamentalism has destroyed “local communities,” the FT reports.

To be sure, it’s not clear that many others in the notoriously strife-ridden DPJ agree with Hatoyama’s sentiments. So his pronouncements may be just that, rather than a reflection of imminent policy changes.

Nonetheless, he writes, “As a result of the failure of the Iraq war and the financial crisis, the era of the US-led globalism is coming to an end, and …we are moving away from a uni-polar world led by the U.S. toward an era of multi-polarity.”

While, Hatoyama is looking outward, the Bank of Japan is more concerned about things at home.

“The Bank of Japan will remain cautious about the outlook, even though expectations for a global recovery are surging in financial markets,” Izuru Kato, chief market economist at Totan Research, tells Bloomberg.