Koizumi, Junichiro, << koh ee zum ee, juhn ee chee roh >> (1942-…), served as prime minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006. He was elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in April 2001. Shortly afterward, Japan’s legislature, the Diet, elected him prime minister. The LDP remained in power after legislative elections in November 2003 and September 2005, and Koizumi remained prime minister. He stepped down in September 2006.
Koizumi became known for a policymaking style that was more nontraditional and reform-oriented than that of previous prime ministers. He supported a national economy that relied less on the government. In particular, he called for making private companies responsible for handling the postal service and providing highway construction.
In foreign affairs, Koizumi signed an agreement in 2002 with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, to improve relations between Japan and North Korea. At that time, Kim admitted for the first time that North Korea had kidnapped a number of Japanese citizens in the 1970’s and 1980’s. In addition, Koizumi expanded the role of Japan’s self-defense force, which is constitutionally prohibited from waging war. In early 2004, several months after a United States-led invasion overthrew the government of Iraq, he sent Japanese troops there to help rebuild the country. Koizumi had a close relationship with United States President George W. Bush and strongly supported the Bush administration’s foreign policy.
Koizumi became a controversial figure in East Asian politics because of his private annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. The shrine honors Japan’s war dead, including people convicted of war crimes during World War II (1939-1945). Such nations as China and South Korea, which were attacked and occupied by Japan during the early to middle 1900’s, regarded Koizumi’s visits as inappropriate.
Koizumi was born on Jan. 8, 1942, in Yokosuka, in the southeastern part of the island of Honshu. In 1967, he graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Keio University in Tokyo. In 1970, Koizumi became a secretary to Takeo Fukuda, an influential member of Japan’s House of Representatives who later became prime minister. In 1972, Koizumi himself was first elected to the House. He served as minister of posts and telecommunications and as minister of health and welfare before becoming prime minister.
