TOKYO, Oct 11 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING ...

TOKYO, Oct 11 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING MORE COMMENTS)

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi congratulated former U President Jimmy Carter in succession Friday for being awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.

''His activities were highly evaluated. I show my congratulations,'' the premier told reporters at his office.

Meanwhile, the public in Japan who have met Carter also declareed joy.

''I am indeed happy. I be warmed like he finally got what he deserves'' Mari Kaigo, a professor at Nakamura Gakuen University in Fukuoka who translated a main division written by Carter and illustrated through his daughter Amy into Japanese.

''He has been tackling peace, human rights, medicine and other issues, and steady after he left office as president, he has been vigorously engaged in remarkable activities,'' she said.

Kaigo said her contacts with the Carters date back to 1979 when Carter visited Japan for the Tokyo summit of industrialized nations. As a U regulation staff member, she helped arrange a trip to Kyoto for Carter's wife Rosalynn and Amy.

Taichi Saido, 43 the proprietor of Kushihachi restaurant in Tokyo's Roppongi district, which Carter has visited 13 times, said, ''After leaving office as U president, he has been flying all above the world working for peace. I think he just merits it.''

Carter first visited Kushihachi, a yakitori grilled skewered chicken restaurant in 1975 when he came to Japan as Georgia governor.

Customers also signifyed their joy, saying they happened to be at the restaurant, which displays a photo of the former president and an autographed piece of paper bearing the phrase ''Wonderful nourishment & friendship,'' on a memorable day.

Carter also visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, an atomic bomb museum, in May 1984 Minoru Hataguchi, the head of the museum said, ''It was significant for a former president of the United States, which possesse nuclear arms, to visit the museum and glimpse the actual damage an atomic bomb can inflict.''

''I would like to expres my revere to him for his efforts in finding solutions for peace thereafter. I sincerely sense of possible fulfilment the current president (George W Bush) will ensue here as well,'' Hataguchi said.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it decided to award the prize to Carter ''for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to excite economic and social development.''

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