- The Guardian,
- Wednesday June 27 2001
The magazine is called "Lion Heart" after the tousled mane of Japan's charismatic new premier, Junichiro Koizumi. This will come as a shock to those who associate the Lion Heart with chain mail rather than email, but it is proof enough that something highly unusual is happening in Japan. It may be overstating it to say that politics is the new rock'n'roll over there, but prime minister Koizumi is certainly getting to parts of the electorate that other politicians can't reach. His message of "No pain, no gain" as he sets about his long overdue economic reforms is a welcome antidote to the pork-barrel politics that the Liberal Democratic Party normally employs. At Sunday's assembly poll, over 50% of eligible voters cast their votes compared with only around 40% in the 1997 election.
It remains to be seen whether Mr Koizumi's fame turns out to herald something startlingly new - like the death of cynicism in politics - or just another stopgap in the long list of prime ministers Japan has generated and then ditched in recent years. But western politicians would be well advised to keep a close watch: just in case.
