Post by Peter on Sept 25, 2006 22:34:31 GMT -1
source: news.bbc.co.uk/
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5380056.stm
Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is stepping down after more than five years in the job.
He will be remembered for his economic reforms and his close relationship with US President George W Bush.
Mr Koizumi came to power in 2001, promising to transform the country's political landscape.
One of Japan's longest-serving premiers, he tried to boost its world presence, sending troops to Iraq and taking a firm line on North Korea.
Unconventional
When Mr Koizumi came to power he said he would destroy his own party - the Liberal Democratic Party - if that was what was needed to push through much-needed reforms.
With his flowing locks so admired by many Japanese women, the prime minister, who was divorced and single, offered the electorate a change from the grey men they had been used to.
He was unconventional, but more importantly straight-talking.
He know how to communicate directly with the people, using slogans and sound bites they would understand.
Japan had not really seen this before and his most important achievement may prove to be that he persuaded the country that economic reforms mattered.
But his annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, where the country's war dead are honoured, angered Japan's neighbours.
Improving relations with China and South Korea will be high on the agenda for his successor.
To tell you the truth i had no idea who their PM was, let alone his name, but he sounds like an interesting chap wouldn't you say?
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5380056.stm
Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is stepping down after more than five years in the job.
He will be remembered for his economic reforms and his close relationship with US President George W Bush.
Mr Koizumi came to power in 2001, promising to transform the country's political landscape.
One of Japan's longest-serving premiers, he tried to boost its world presence, sending troops to Iraq and taking a firm line on North Korea.
Unconventional
When Mr Koizumi came to power he said he would destroy his own party - the Liberal Democratic Party - if that was what was needed to push through much-needed reforms.
With his flowing locks so admired by many Japanese women, the prime minister, who was divorced and single, offered the electorate a change from the grey men they had been used to.
He was unconventional, but more importantly straight-talking.
He know how to communicate directly with the people, using slogans and sound bites they would understand.
Japan had not really seen this before and his most important achievement may prove to be that he persuaded the country that economic reforms mattered.
But his annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, where the country's war dead are honoured, angered Japan's neighbours.
Improving relations with China and South Korea will be high on the agenda for his successor.
To tell you the truth i had no idea who their PM was, let alone his name, but he sounds like an interesting chap wouldn't you say?
