Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan: biography, personal life, political portrait

The 87th Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, during his tenure at the head of the government of the Land of the Rising Sun, gained the fame of a "single wolf" and an eccentric. After his resignation, he disappeared for several years from active politics. However, in 2013, his return came, marked by a speech in which he presented his radically changed position to the public about the advisability of using nuclear energy in the Japanese islands.

A family

Junichiro Koizumi (his political portrait is of great interest to those who are engaged in studying the influence of individuals on the course of the history of their country) comes from a well-known Japanese family. His maternal grandfather was the mayor of the city where he was born, and a member of parliament, and his father in 1964-1965 served as head of the directorate of the national defense, which, in fact, meant the leadership of the entire military sphere of the country.

early years

Junichiro Koizumi was born in the town of Yokosuke, in Kanagawa Prefecture, on January 8, 1942.

He graduated from Yokosuka High School, and then entered the University of Cayo, where he studied economics. In parallel, Junichiro Koizumi studied the art of playing the violin and achieved great success in this business.

Later, the young man went to London, where he continued his education at the University College London. He could not finish this school, because three years later, in August 1969, he had to return to his homeland because of his father's death and the need to take care of the family.

The beginning of political career

In December 1969 Koizumi put forward his candidacy at the elections to the lower house of parliament, but he could not get the necessary number of votes to present there LDPJA (Liberal Democratic Party of Japan). Although in the Land of the Rising Sun, a seat in the parliament was often inherited, he was too young, and his father's associates were wary of the "jerk" coming from the UK.

In 1970, he became secretary of Takeo Fukuda (then-Minister of Finance). This post allowed him to establish contacts in the highest circles of the country and gain experience in the field of politics.

After 2 years in the general election, Junichiro Koizumi was elected representative of the lower house of the Japanese parliament from Kanagawa Prefecture. He became a member of the Fukuda faction of his party and was re-elected 10 times.

On the way to power

The further career of the young politician was simply brilliant, and he repeatedly held the posts of the heads of the ministries of health, post and telecommunications, etc. However, the main peak that was to be the crown of his career for many years remained unconquered.

On April 24, 2001, Koizumi was elected chairman of the LDPJ. Initially, he was seen as an external candidate against incumbent Prime Minister Hashimoto, who ran for a second term. His opponents were also charismatic and ambitious Taro Aso and "old political wolf" Shizuka Kamei. In the first vote of the party organizations of his prefecture, he managed to get 87% against 11%, and in the 2nd ballot held among members of parliament - 51% against 40%.

Prime Minister of Japan

In the 2001 elections, Junichiro Koizumi, whose biography you already know in youth, thanks to the results of the final vote, was able to fulfill his dream and take the highest office in the state.

Koizumi quickly realized that by old methods he was unlikely to win a battle with the old guard, and he relied on the voter's desire for change.

In particular, the politician said that he is going to fight for the transition to the system of direct elections of the country's leader by the people of the country, and not by voting within the winning political party.

After the victory Koizumi took a bold step. He moved away from the principle of sharing portfolios among his party's representatives and appointed non-politicians, not professionals, and scientists, to key posts of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Economy.

Immediately he had a lot of opponents among the "associates". However, the party members had to endure the antics of their leader, as they understood that his displacement would lead to the imminent defeat of the LDPJ in the next election.

Junichiro Koizumi: Reforms

In many ways, what this politician did as prime minister, a dialectical contradiction was seen. In particular, it was difficult not to notice that he often went ahead and changed the foundations on which the power of the LDPJ relied, which threatened her with destruction. At the same time, he could not do without it and was forced to use the organizational potential and authority of his party to carry out large-scale reforms, especially with respect to the Japanese postal service and the privatization of high-speed roads. The transformations that Koizumi planned would lead to a drastic change in the country's monetary and financial system, while cutting budget spending would reduce the deficit and exert psychological influence on civil servants who were accustomed to receiving a monetary allowance in a fixed amount, regardless of the outcome of their labor.

During his tenure in office, Koizumi succeeded in carrying out most of what he had planned. In particular, thanks to him about a million inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun were given the opportunity to use state benefits.

Foreign policy

Koizumi also had major problems in foreign policy, as he had to decide whether or not to send soldiers to Iraq, where Japanese diplomats were killed. In addition, he, as a patriot, strongly advocated the return of the 4 South Kuril Islands and did not allow any compromise. At the same time, he understood that it was inexpedient to go ahead with our country, so he adopted a plan of action, which he hoped would bring relations with Russia to a level that would allow solving the existing territorial problem more successfully.

Junichiro Koizumi: personal life

The politician married in 1978, when he was already under 40. The bride - Kaeko Miyamoto - at that time was 21 years old. The couple met as a result of an o-miai, which is a traditional Japanese practice for finding the second half. The wedding was held at the Tokyo Prince Hotel, and it was invited to about 2,500 guests, including then-Prime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fukuda. The celebration was quite sumptuous, and the cake was a miniature copy of the building of the Japanese parliament.

The marriage lasted only 4 years and ended in divorce in 1982. The reason was the dissatisfaction of Kaeko with the constant employment of the spouse, and Junichiro Koizumi realized after the wedding that she did not correspond to his ideas about the wife of the politician.

After an unsuccessful first marriage Koizumi never married. In one of his interviews, he said that the divorce took him tens of times more energy than the marriage itself.

Children

In marriage, the politician had three sons. The two older ones, Kotaro and Shinjiro, remained under the care of their father after the divorce of their parents, helped by one of his sisters. Interestingly, the third son of Junichiro Koizumi-Esinaga Miyamoto-never saw his father. He was born after his father divorced his mother. There is information that the young man was not allowed to go to politics when he tried to talk to him during his grandmother's funeral.

Now you know what the 87th Prime Minister of Japan left in politics and got acquainted with some interesting details of his biography, which is an example of what a "lone wolf" who has an unbending character can achieve.