Editing Junichiro Koizumi (section)

==Prime minister==

===Domestic policy===
{{Neoliberalism sidebar|people}}
Within Japan, Koizumi pushed for new ways to revitalise the moribund economy, aiming to act against bad debts with commercial banks, privatize the postal savings system, and reorganize the factional structure of the LDP. He spoke of the need for a period of painful restructuring in order to improve the future.  To design policy initiatives in 2001 he used the new Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (Keizai Zaisei Seisaku Tanto Daijin) or CEFP.  It issued an annual planning document, [[Honebuto no hōshin|"Basic Policies for Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform"]].  It planned a major reorganization of the central government, and shaped economic policy in cooperation with key cabinet members. To meet the challenge of economic stagnation CEFP took an integrated approach, a worldwide economic view, and, promoted greater transparency; its philosophy was neoliberal.<ref>Hiroshi Kaihara,  "Japan’s political economy and Koizumi’s structural reform: A rise and fall of neoclassical economic reform in Japan." ''East Asia'' 25.4 (2008): 389–405.</ref>

In the fall of 2002, Koizumi appointed Keio University economist and frequent television commentator [[Heizō Takenaka]] as Minister of State for Financial Services and head of the [[Financial Services Agency|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 was one of the highest among [[G7]] nations, according to the [[International Monetary Fund]] and [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]]. Takenaka was appointed as a Postal Reform Minister in 2004 for the privatization of [[Japan Post]], operator of the country's Postal Savings system.<ref name="Kaihara 2008">Kaihara,  "Japan’s political economy and Koizumi’s structural reform" (2008): 389–405.</ref>

Koizumi moved the LDP away from its traditional rural agrarian base toward a more urban, [[neoliberal]] core, as Japan's population grew in major cities and declined in less populated areas, although under current purely geographical districting, rural votes in Japan are still many times more powerful than urban ones. In addition to the privatization of Japan Post (which many rural residents fear will reduce their access to basic services such as banking), Koizumi also slowed down the LDP's heavy subsidies for infrastructure and industrial development in rural areas. These tensions made Koizumi a controversial but popular figure within his own party and among the Japanese electorate.<ref name="Kaihara 2008"/> Considering both his neoliberal policies and his appeal to populist ideas, Koizumi's political ideology has been characterized "as a populist version of neoliberalism (or as a variant of the populist right) rather than neoliberal populism."<ref>{{cite journal |author=Petter Y. Lindgren |title=Explaining important public contests in Japan: Rhetorical strategies, causality, and populism |journal=Contemporary Japan |date=2023 |volume=37 |pages=110–136 |doi=10.1080/18692729.2023.2247278 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/18692729.2023.2247278}}</ref>

===Foreign policy===
[[File:President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan Shake Hands.jpg|thumb|Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] meet at the White House on 25 September 2001.]]
Although Koizumi's foreign policy was focused on closer relations with the United States and UN-centered diplomacy, which were adopted by all of his predecessors, he went further, supporting the US policies in the [[War on Terrorism]]. He decided to deploy the [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]] to Iraq, which was the first military mission in active foreign war zones since the end of the [[World War II]]. Many Japanese commentators indicated that the favorable US-Japan relation was based on the Koizumi's personal friendship with the US President [[George W. Bush]]. White House officials described the first meeting between Koizumi and Bush at Camp David as "incredibly warm", with the two men playing catch with a baseball.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chen|first1=Edwin|title=Bush Enjoys a Warm Meeting With Koizumi|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=1 July 2001}}</ref> Since leaving office, he has defended his decision to send Japanese troops to Iraq.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-08-10 |title=Junichiro Koizumi: 'I'm not strange. I'm extraordinary' |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/5b5a7770-9a3d-11e8-9702-5946bae86e6d |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/5b5a7770-9a3d-11e8-9702-5946bae86e6d |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-07-09}}</ref> In the [[North Korean abductions of Japanese|North Korean abductions]] and nuclear development issues, Koizumi took more assertive attitudes than his predecessors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wwwa.cao.go.jp/notice/20191101notice.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711022730/http://www8.cao.go.jp/survey/tokubetu/h18/h18-jieitai.pdf|url-status=dead|title=内閣府ウェブサイトの常時暗号化による「https:」への切り替え – 内閣府|archive-date=11 July 2007|website=wwwa.cao.go.jp}}</ref>

====Self-Defense Forces policy====
Although Koizumi did not initially campaign on the issue of defense reform,<ref name="anderson"/> 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 [[Japanese Iraq Reconstruction and Support Group|dispatched to Iraq]]. Koizumi's government also introduced a bill to upgrade the [[Ministry of Defense (Japan)|Defense Agency]] to ministry status; finally, the Defense Agency became the Japanese [[Ministry of Defense (Japan)|Ministry of Defense]] on 9 January 2007.<ref name="june06">"[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060617a7.html Diet closes for summer, puts lid on Koizumi legacy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606141128/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060617a7.html |date=June 6, 2011 }}," ''Japan Times'' (registration required), 17 June 2006.</ref>
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:21apec5.jpg|thumbnail|right|Koizumi meeting with Chinese President [[Hu Jintao]] in 2004]] -->

====Visits to Yasukuni Shrine====
Koizumi has often been noted for his controversial visits to the [[Yasukuni Shrine]], starting on 13 August 2001. He visited the shrine six times as prime minister. Because the shrine honors Japan's war dead, which also include many convicted [[Japanese war criminals]] and 14 executed Class A [[war criminals]], these visits drew strong condemnation and protests from both Japan's neighbours, mainly China and South Korea, and many Japanese citizens. China and South Korea's people hold bitter memories of Japanese invasion and occupation during the first half of the 20th century. China and South Korea refused to have their representatives meet Koizumi in Japan and their countries. There were no mutual visits between Chinese and Japanese leaders from October 2001, and between South Korean and Japanese leaders from June 2005. The standstill ended when the next prime minister Abe visited China and South Korea in October 2006.

In China, the visits contributed to widespread anti-Japanese riots, which were also accompanied by other more peaceful [[2005 anti-Japanese demonstrations|large anti-Japan demonstrations across East Asia]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Asia press concern at China-Japan row |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4476099.stm |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=BBC News |date=23 April 2005}}</ref> The president, ruling and opposition parties, and much of the media of South Korea openly condemned Koizumi's pilgrimages.<ref>
"[https://archive.today/20130104054337/http://news.naver.com/news/read.php?mode=LSD&office_id=044&article_id=0000023828&section_id=108&menu_id=108 Lawmakers visit Japanese Embassy to protest Koizumi's planned Seoul trip]," ''The Korea Herald'', 12 October 2001.</ref> Many Koreans applauded the president's speeches criticizing Japan, despite the [[Roh Moo-hyun|South Korean President's]] low popularity. When asked about the reaction, Koizumi said the speeches were "for the domestic (audience)".
[[File:Vladimir Putin 20 July 2001-6.jpg|thumb|Koizumi with [[Kofi Annan]], [[George W. Bush]] and [[Vladimir Putin]], 20 July 2001]]

Although Koizumi signed the shrine's visitor book as "Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister of Japan", he claimed that his visits were as a private citizen and not an endorsement of any political stance.<ref>"[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20060126a1.htm Koizumi not backing down on Yasukuni]," ''The Japan Times'' (registration required), 26 January 2006.</ref> China and Korea considered this excuse insufficient. Several journals and news reports in Japan, such as one published by Kyodo News Agency on 15 August 2006, questioned Koizumi's statement of private purpose, as he unreservedly recorded his position on the shrine's guestbook as prime minister. He visited the shrine annually in fulfillment of a campaign pledge. Koizumi's last visit as prime minister was on 15 August 2006, fulfilling a campaign pledge to visit on the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4789905.stm|work=BBC News|title=Koizumi shrine visit stokes anger|date=15 August 2006|access-date=3 April 2010}}</ref>

Eleven months after his resignation as prime minister, Koizumi revisited the shrine on 15 August 2007 to mark the 62nd anniversary of Japan's surrender in [[World War II]]. His 2007 visit attracted less attention from the media than his prior visits while he was in office.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/photo/070815/ids_photos_wl/r1219897673.jpg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602175340/http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070815/ids_photos_wl/r1219897673.jpg|url-status=dead|title=Yahoo news|archive-date=2 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-10-22 |title=Koizumi, Former Japan Premier, to Quit Parliament After Aso Win – Bloomberg |website=[[Bloomberg News]] |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aZ01YlW1zurQ&refer=japan |access-date=2023-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022191214/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aZ01YlW1zurQ&refer=japan |archive-date=22 October 2012 }}</ref>

====Statements on World War II====
On 15 August 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II, Koizumi publicly stated that "I would like to express keen remorse and heartfelt apologies" and vowed Japan would never again take "the path to war".<ref>{{cite news| title=Koizumi apologizes for war wounds|date=31 August 2005|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/08/15/pacific.victoryday/|work=[[CNN]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051218183732/http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/08/15/pacific.victoryday/|archive-date=18 December 2005}}</ref>

===Popularity===
[[File:Junichiro Koizumi.jpg|thumb|Koizumi meets children in [[Sea Island, Georgia]], shortly before the [[30th G8 summit|2004 G8 summit]].]]
Koizumi was an extremely popular leader at certain points in his tenure. His outspoken nature and colourful past contributed to that, and his nicknames included "Lionheart" and "Maverick".<ref name="anderson"/> During his time in office, the Japanese public referred to him as ''Jun-chan'' (the suffix "chan" in the Japanese language is used as a term of familiarity, typically between children, "Jun" is a contraction of Junichiro). In June 2001, he enjoyed an approval rating of 80 percent.<ref>[http://archives.cnn.com/2001/BUSINESS/asia/06/11/japan.popularity/index.html Koizumi's popularity hits fresh peak], CNN, 12 June 2001. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404112333/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/BUSINESS/asia/06/11/japan.popularity/index.html |date=4 April 2013 }}</ref>

In January 2002, Koizumi fired his Foreign Minister [[Makiko Tanaka]], replacing her with [[Yoriko Kawaguchi]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Japanese Cabinet plays politics with crying game|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=20020201&id=ZExWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6660,63155|publisher=Associated Press|access-date=12 March 2015}}</ref> Tanaka had enjoyed high public approval ratings. A few days before her dismissal, when she was filmed crying after a dispute with government officials, Koizumi generated controversy with his statement "tears are women's ultimate weapons". Following an economic slump and a series of LDP scandals that claimed the career of YKK member [[Koichi Kato (LDP)|Koichi Kato]], by April Koizumi's popularity rating had fallen 30 percentage points since his nomination as prime minister.<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1916438.stm Koizumi ally quits politics over scandal]," BBC News, 8 April 2002.</ref>

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 turned out to be highly unpopular. Two visits to North Korea to solve the issue of abducted Japanese nationals only somewhat{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} raised his popularity, as he could not secure several abductees' returns to Japan. In the [[2004 Japanese House of Councillors election|House of Councilors elections in 2004]], the LDP performed only marginally{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} better than the opposition [[Democratic Party of Japan]] (DPJ), winning 32 more seats than the latter obtained.

In 2005, the House of Councilors rejected the contentious [[Japan Post|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 privatization, made a tactical vote against the bill. Fifty-one LDP members also either voted against the bills or abstained.

On 8 August 2005, Koizumi, as promised, dissolved the House of Representatives and called for [[snap election]]s. He expelled rebel LDP members for not supporting the bill. The LDP's chances for success were initially uncertain; the secretary general of [[New Komeito Party|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.<ref>"[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050728a2.htm New Komeito exec signals willingness to jump LDP ship]," ''The Japan Times''(registration required), 28 July 2005.</ref>

Koizumi's popularity rose almost twenty points after he dissolved the House and expelled rebel LDP members. Opinion polls ranked the government's approval ratings between 58 and 65 percent. The electorate saw the election in terms of a vote for or against reform of the postal service, which the Democratic Party and rebel LDP members were seen as being against.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}}

The [[2005 Japanese general election|September 2005 elections]] were the LDP's largest victory since 1986, 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.<ref name="june06"/> A number of Koizumi-supported candidates known as "[[Koizumi Children]]" joined the Diet in this election and supported successive LDP governments until the [[2009 Japanese general election|2009 elections]], when most{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} were defeated.