The most interesting political event this autumn has not been the surprise resignation, after only 11 months as prime minister, of Yasuo Fukuda. Nor his replacement by Taro Aso. Rather it was the announcement by Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister from 2001 to 2006, that he was retiring from parliament.
Mr Koizumi’s withdrawal from the political fray ends an era in Japanese politics. His five-and-a-half years in office, the third-longest stint since the war, was shot through with drama. He took on his own Liberal Democratic party, which had monopolised power for all but 11 months since 1955, threatening to destroy it if it did not reform. By creating an aura of change, he was, in fact, able to save the LDP – delivering a landslide victory, complete with a two-thirds “super-majority”, in the 2005 elections.
