Junichiro Koizumi

Since winning leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 2001, he has become known as an advocate of reform, focusing on Japan's government debt and the privatization of its postal service. In 2005, Koizumi led the LDP to win one of the largest parliamentary majorities in modern Japanese history. Koizumi has been criticized for severely damaging Japan's foreign relations with neighboring Asian countries China and South Korea.

Background

Early life

Koizumi is a third-generation politician. His father, Junya Koizumi, was director general of the Japan Defense Agency and a member of the Diet. His grandfather, Matajiro Koizumi, was Minister of Posts and Telecommunications under Prime Ministers Hamaguchi and Wakatsuki and an early advocate of postal privatization. See: Koizumi family.

Born in Yokosuka on 8 January 1942, Koizumi was educated at Yokosuka High School and Keio University, where he studied economics. He attended University College London before returning to Japan in August 1969 upon the death of his father. He stood for election to the lower house in December; however, he did not earn enough votes to win election as a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) representative. In 1970, he was hired as a secretary to Takeo Fukuda, who was Minister of Finance at the time and would go on to become Prime Minister in 1976.

In the general elections of December 1972, Koizumi was elected as a member of the Lower House for the 11th District of Kanagawa Prefecture. He joined Fukuda's faction within the LDP. Since then, he has been re-elected ten times.

Marriage and divorce

Koizumi married 21-year-old Keio student Kayoko Miyamoto in 1978, having proposed to her one day after their first date (which had been arranged by Koizumi's political aides). The ceremony at the Tokyo Prince Hotel was attended by about 2,500 people, including Fukuda (then Prime Minister), and featured a wedding cake shaped like the National Diet Building."Japan's Destroyer," TIME, Sep. 10, 2001.

The marriage ended in divorce in 1982. Miyamoto was unhappy with her lifestyle and Koizumi did not see Miyamoto as a viable political wife. After this divorce, Koizumi vowed never to marry again, saying that divorce consumed ten times more energy than marriage."Koizumi's ex-wife ready to lend a hand, has 'nothing to lose'," Kyodo News, May 9, 2001.

Two of his three sons (Kotaro Koizumi and Shinjiro Koizumi) were kept in Koizumi's custody and raised by one of Koizumi's sisters. Although Miyamoto claims that she was to be allowed to see her two sons once they reach the age of 16, this did not happen and she has not been able to see them since the divorce. The youngest, Yoshinaga Miyamoto, a student at Keio University, was born following the divorce"For Japanese, a Typical Tale of Divorce," Washington Post, May 19, 2001. and has never met Koizumi. This third son is known to have attended one of Koizumi's rallies, but was also turned away when trying to meet his father by attending his grandmother's funeral.Japanese PM keeps lost son at bay," '"The Times'', Sept. 4, 2005.

Rise to power

Koizumi gained his first senior post in 1979 as Parliamentary Vice Minister of Finance, and his first ministerial post in 1988 as Minister of Health and Welfare under Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita. He held cabinet posts again in 1992 (Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in the Miyazawa cabinet) and 1996–1998 (Minister of Health and Welfare in the Uno and Hashimoto cabinets).

In 1994, with the LDP in opposition, Koizumi became part of a new LDP faction, Shinseiki, made up of younger and more motivated parliamentarians led by Taku Yamasaki, Koichi Kato and Koizumi, a group popularly dubbed "YKK." He competed for the presidency of the LDP in September 1995 and July 1999, but he gained little support losing decisively to Ryutaro Hashimoto and then Keizo Obuchi, both of whom had broader bases of support within the party. However, after Yamasaki and Kato were humiliated in a disastrous attempt to force a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in 2000, Koizumi became the last remaining credible member of the YKK trio, which gave him leverage over the reform-minded wing of the party.

On April 24, 2001, Koizumi was elected president of the LDP. He was initially considered an outside candidate against Hashimoto, who was running for his second term as Prime Minister. However, in the first poll of prefectural party organizations, Koizumi won 87 to 11 percent; in the second vote of Diet members, Koizumi won 51 to 40 percent. He defeated Hashimoto by a final tally of 298 to 155 votes.Anderson, Gregory E., "Lionheart or Paper Tiger? A First-term Koizumi Retrospective," Asian Perspective 28:149–182, March 2004. He was made Prime Minister of Japan on April 26, and his coalition secured 78 of 121 seats in the Upper House elections in July.

Koizumi as Prime Minister

Domestic policy

Within Japan, Koizumi has pushed for new ways to revitalise the moribund economy, aiming to act against bad debts with commercial banks, privatize the postal savings system, and reorganise the factional structure of the LDP. He spoke of the need for a period of painful restructuring in order to improve the future.

In the fall of 2002, Koizumi appointed Keio University economist and frequent television commentator Heizo Takenaka as Minister of State for Financial Services and head of the Financial Services Agency (FSA) to fix the country's banking crisis. Bad debts of banks were dramatically cut with the NPL ratio of major banks approaching half the level of 2001. The Japanese economy has been through a slow but steady recovery, and the stock market has dramatically rebounded. The GDP growth for 2004 is expected to be one of the highest among G7 nations, according to the IMF and OECD. Takenaka was appointed as a Postal Reform Minister in 2004 for the privatization of Japan Post, operator of the country's Postal Savings system.

Koizumi moved the LDP away from its traditional rural agrarian base toward a more urban, neoliberal core, as Japan's population grows in major cities and declines in less populated areas. In addition to the privatization of Japan Post (which many rural residents fear will reduce their access to basic services such as banking), Koizumi has also slowed down the LDP's heavy subsidies for infrastructure and industrial development in rural areas. These tensions have made Koizumi a controversial but popular figure within his own party and among the Japanese electorate.

Foreign policy

Assertive Foreign Policy

Koizumi is popular among many Japanese for his assertive foreign policy stances, such as the deployment of Japanese Self-Defence Forces to Iraq, an unrepentant stance towards China and South Korea over his Yasukuni war shrine visits, the pursuit of pro-active negotiations with North Korea, and emphasizing Japan's claims against Russia over the Kuril Islands. Some Japanese commentators have also praised his friendly relationship with United States President George W. Bush, even though the Japanese electorate has been generally ambivalent towards relations with the U.S. The deployment of Japanese Self-Defence Forces in Iraq was intended as a demonstration of Japanese national confidence, rather than support of U.S. policy. It was controversial due to its military nature which conflicted with Japan's pacifist tendency since the end of World War II.

However, in terms of voter appeal, Koizumi's assertive foreign policy is considerably less important to the Japanese electorate than his domestic restructuring and economic policy.

Self-Defense Forces Policy

Although Koizumi did not initially campaign on the issue of defense reform, he approved the expansion of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and in October 2001 they were given greater scope to operate outside of the country. Some of these troops were dispatched to Iraq, though only to carry out non-combat duties. Koizumi's government also introduced a bill to upgrade the Japan Defense Agency to ministry status, but this bill was not passed in the 2006 session and will be deferred to the next session under the watch of Koizumi's successor."Diet closes for summer, puts lid on Koizumi legacy," Japan Times (registration required), June 17, 2006.

Controversial visits to Yasukuni shrine

Koizumi has often been noted for his controversial visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, starting on August 13, 2001. He has visited the shrine four times, most recently on October 16, 2005. Because the shrine honors many convicted Japanese war criminals, including 14 executed Class A war criminals, these visits have drawn strong condemnation and protests from Japan's neighbors, mainly the People's Republic of China and South Korea. These countries still hold bitter memories of Japanese invasion and occupation during the first half of the 20th century.

In China, the visits have provoked massive anti-Japanese riots that have often erupted in violence. Some Japanese and Western observers, however, believe that the Chinese government intentionally allowed these riots to turn public attention away from domestic issues. However, there have also been many protests in South Korea, with even Korean President Kim Dae Jung openly criticizing the visits.

Although Koizumi signs the shrine's visitor book as "Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister of Japan", he claims that the visits to the shrine are as a private citizen and not an endorsement of any political stance."Koizumi not backing down on Yasukuni," The Japan Times (registration required), Jan. 26, 2006. Koizumi's father built an airfield in Kagoshima, which was used for kamikaze missions during 1944–5, and a cousin died on such a mission.

Statements on World War II

On August 15, 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II, Koizumi publicly stated that Japan was deeply saddened by the suffering it caused during World War II and vowed Japan would never again take "the path to war".^* However, Koizumi has been criticised for actions that run contrary to this expression of remorse. For example, he has continued to make visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. This has resulted in worsening relations with China and South Korea, two important trading partners, and even the cancellation of important bilateral meetings in late 2005. His party also cancelled plans for the building of a neutral, non-militaristic shrine that might have stemmed criticism. In addition, Koizumi's attempts to make Japan play a more active military role abroad have been seen as contradictory to his statement.

Popularity

Initially Koizumi was an extremely popular leader, with his outspoken nature and colourful past. His nicknames included "Lionheart", due to his hair style and fierce spirit, and "Maverick". In June 2001, he enjoyed an approval rating of 85 percent, with only 7 percent disapproving.Koizumi's popularity hits fresh peak, CNN.com, June 12, 2001.

In January 2002, he sacked his popular but volatile Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, replacing her with Yoriko Kawaguchi. By April, following an economic slump and a series of LDP scandals that claimed the career of YKK member Koichi Kato, Koizumi's popularity rating had fallen 40 percentage points since his nomination as prime minister."Koizumi ally quits politics over scandal," BBC News, April 8, 2002.

However, Koizumi was re-elected in 2003 and his popularity surged as the economy recovered. His proposal to cut pension benefits as a move to fiscal reform, however, turned out to be highly unpopular. This restricted his administration's approval rating in the House of Councilors elections in 2004 to being only marginally better than the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). In 2005, the House of Councilors rejected the contentious postal privatization bills. Koizumi previously made it clear that he would dissolve the lower house if the bill failed to pass. The Democratic Party, while expressing support for the privatisation, made a tactical vote against the bill. Fifty-one LDP members also either voted against the bills or abstained.

On August 8, 2005, Koizumi, as promised, dissolved the House of Representatives and called for snap elections. He also expelled rebel LDP members for not supporting the bill. The LDP's chances for success were initially uncertain; the secretary general of New Komeito (a junior coalition partner with Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party) said that his party would entertain forming a coalition government with the Democratic Party of Japan if the DPJ took a majority in the House of Representatives."New Komeito exec signals willingness to jump LDP ship," The Japan Times (registration required), July 28, 2005.

However, Koizumi's popularity rose almost twenty points after he dissolved the House and expelled rebel LDP members, with opinion polls placing the government's approval ratings between 51 and 59 percent. The electorate saw the election in term of vote for or against the reform (privatisation), which Democratic Party and rebel LDP were seen as being against.

The elections on September 11 were the LDP's largest victory in decades, giving the party a large majority in the House of Representatives and nullifying opposing voices in the House of Councilors. In the following Diet session, the last to be held under Koizumi's government, the LDP passed 82 of its 91 proposed bills, including postal privatization.

"Post-Koizumi"

Koizumi has announced that he will step down from office sometime in 2006, per LDP rules, and will not personally choose a successor as many LDP prime ministers have in the past. This has led to widespread media speculation about who will be his successor, an issue popularly referred to as .

The four leading candidates to replace Koizumi are Shinzo Abe, Yasuo Fukuda, Sadakazu Tanigaki, and Taro Aso. Faction leader Taro Kono has also expressed an interest in standing in the party elections. However, none of the five have officially declared their candidacies. Formal declarations are not expected until July 2006 at the earliest."July announcements eyed for LDP race," Daily Yomiuri, June 18, 2006. In a June poll of 403 LDP lawmakers, Abe had the backing of 130, followed by Fukuda with 30."Focus shifts to Koizumi's successor as Diet session nears end," Mainichi Daily News, June 17, 2006.

Koizumi cabinets

	First (April 26, 2001)	First, Realigned (September 30, 2002)	Second (November 19. 2003)	Second, Realigned (September 22, 2004)	Third, Realigned (2005-10-31)
Secretary	Yasuo Fukuda ⁴			Hiroyuki Hosoda	Shinzo Abe
Internal Affairs	Toranosuke Katayama		Taro Aso		Heizo Takenaka ³
Justice	Mayumi Moriyama		Daizo Nozawa	Chieko Nohno	Seiken Sugiura
Foreign Affairs	Makiko Tanaka ¹	Yoriko Kawaguchi		Nobutaka Machimura	Taro Aso
Finance	Masajuro Shiokawa		Sadakazu Tanigaki
Education	Atsuko Toyama		Takeo Kawamura	Nariaki Nakayama	Kenji Kosaka
Health	Chikara Sakaguchi			Hidehisa Otsuji	Jiro Kawasaki
Agriculture	Tsutomu Takebe	Tadamori Oshima ²	Yoshiyuki Kamei	Yoshinobu Shimamura	Shoichi Nakagawa
Economy	Takeo Hiranuma		Shoichi Nakagawa		Toshihiro Nikai
Land	Chikage Ogi		Nobuteru Ishihara	Kazuo Kitagawa
Environment	Hiroshi Oki ¹	Shunichi Suzuki	Yuriko Koike
Public Safety	Jin Murai	Sadakazu Tanigaki	Kiyoko Ono	Yoshitaka Murata	Tetsuo Kutsukake
Disaster Prevention	Jin Murai	Yoshitada Konoike	Kiichi Inoue	Yoshitaka Murata	Tetsuo Kutsukake
Defense	Gen Nakatani	Shigeru Ishiba		Yoshinori Ono	Fukushiro Nukaga
Economic Policy	Heizo Takenaka ³	Heizo Takenaka		Heizo Takenaka	Kaoru Yosano
Financial Affairs	Hakuo Yanagisawa	Heizo Takenaka		Tatsuya Ito	Kaoru Yosano
Admin. and Reg. Reform	Nobuteru Ishihara		Kazuyoshi Kaneko	Seiichiro Murakami	Koki Chuma
Technology	Koji Omi	Hiroyuki Hosoda	Toshimitsu Motegi	Yasufumi Tanahashi	Iwao Matsuda
Youth and Gender					Kuniko Inoguchi

Notes:

Makiko Tanaka was fired on January 29, 2002. Koizumi served as interim foreign minister until February 1, when he appointed then-environment minister Yoriko Kawaguchi to the post. Koizumi appointed Hiroshi Oki to replace Kawaguchi.
Oshima resigned on March 31, 2003 due to a farm-subsidy scandal. He was replaced by Kamei, who was kept in the next reshuffle.
Takenaka has also held the portfolio of Minister of State for Postal Privatization since the first Koizumi cabinet. He is the only person to serve on Koizumi's cabinet through all five reshuffles.
Fukuda resigned on May 7, 2004 and was replaced by Hosoda.

Trivia

Koizumi, who at the time of retirement will be the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history, is a fan of Richard Wagner, X Japan, and the Japanese Pop band Morning Musume, and has released a CD of his favorite songs by Ennio Morricone.Watashi no daisuki na morrikone myujikku, ASIN B000ALJ04G. Amazon link.

Koizumi is also a noted fan of Elvis Presley, with whom he shares a birthday (January 8). In 2001 he released a collection of his favorite Elvis songs on CD with his comments about each song. His brother is Senior Advisor of the Tokyo Elvis Fan Club. Koizumi and his brother helped finance a statue of Elvis in Tokyo's Harajuku district. On June 30, 2006, he visited the rock legend's former estate, Graceland, accompanied by U.S. President George W. Bush, and First Lady Laura Bush. After arriving in Memphis aboard on Air Force 1, they headed to Graceland, making this visit the first ever by a sitting President of the United States and the head of a foreign Government in a residence other than the White House, or any of the presidential homes and retreats. While there, Koizumi briefly sang a few bars of his favourite Elvis tunes, whilst warmly impersonating Presley, mimicking his characteristic hand movements and leg shakes, and wearing Presley's trademark oversized golden sunglasses.^*

References

External links

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