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...Shinjiro Koizumi, who is the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, became the third-youngest lawmaker to join a post-World War II Japanese cabinet when current head Shinzo Abe reshuffled key appointments this month. Japanese polls show voters think the young Koizumi could be groomed to replace Abe, Reuters reported. “We are committed to realizing a decarbonized society, and we are ready to contribute as a more powerful country in the fight against climate change,” Koizumi said, according to the Reuters report. Japan is the only G-7 country that is adding coal-fired power capacity. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had told...

January 14, 2014 11:31pm Antinuclear ex-PM Hosokawa to vie for Tokyo gov., backed by Koizumi Former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa said Tuesday he will run in the upcoming Tokyo gubernatorial election with an antinuclear agenda after securing the backing of popular former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at a meeting in Tokyo. The move, which could have game-changing impact on the race for the helm of the Japanese capital, drew a quick response from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who suggested during his trip in Ethiopia that candidates should not focus too much on the issue of nuclear energy. Abe's ruling Liberal...

In Japan, the wa surrounds you. You can feel it in the priciest sushi bars and lowliest noodle parlors. Call it the particular Japanese way of looking at the world; of harmony, of collectiveness with a do-not-rock-the-boat spirit. In the mythology of "Star Wars" movies, the wa is like the Force. To mess with the wa is a cardinal sin. Junichiro Koizumi messed with the wa. But perhaps the most surprising thing about the man who will exit the political stage next week as Japan's most important postwar prime minister is that when he messed with the wa, most Japanese...

ALARM - Shinzo Abe will become the new Prime Minister of Japan TOKYO (Japan) - the conservative Shinzo Abe was elected Wednesday chair of the democratic Party-liberal (PLD), to the capacity in Tokyo, and thus will become the new Prime Minister of Japan, one learned at the PLD.

Excerpt - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi endorsed hawkish Shinzo Abe, the front-runner in the ruling party leadership race, as his successor, Kyodo News agency reported Saturday. Koizumi said he will vote for Abe, serving chief Cabinet secretary in his government, in the Sept. 20 election to pick a new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Kyodo reported from Helsinki, Finland, where the prime minister is attending the Asia-Europe Meeting. Koizumi, who took office in April 2001, has said he will step down when his current term as ruling party head ends at the end of September. The new LDP leader...

TOKYO - Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, now widely believed to be a shoo-in to succeed Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in September, has made it clear, if ever there was any doubt, that he will pursue an ultra-conservative, nationalistic and pro-US political and foreign-policy agenda. Abe's policy goals as the new prime minister will include, among other things, giving Japan a greater military role abroad through such means as promulgating a new constitution to replace the post-World War II pacifist constitution, strengthening a security alliance with the United States, and forging a thinly veiled alliance of Asia-Pacific democracies to...

TOKYO — Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe is considering seeking tougher measures on North Korea than outgoing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi if he becomes premier next month, hoping to help settle the issue of Japanese abductions, government sources said Sunday. Abe, as prime minister, would also boost the power of the government's task force on the abduction issue and push ahead with new measures for economic sanctions on North Korea in cooperation with Japan's ruling coalition parties, they said. The sources said these plans would market a shift in policy from Koizumi's "dialogue and pressure" against North Korea to one...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: The President and First Lady are in Russia for the G8 summit, which will conclude tomorrow. In addition to attending the group sessions, President Bush held a series of bilateral meetings with key leaders, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and French President Jacques Chirac. Significantly, the President also had a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, which was characterized as "on the sidelines" of the G8 summit. (China is not a member of the G8.) Here is a link to the White House transcript of their joint press conference...

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi places his hand on the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City July 13, 2006. REUTERS/Kouichi Nakamura/JAPAN POOL (ISRAEL)Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi places his hand on the Western Wall next to a rabbi in Jerusalem's old city July 13, 2006. REUTERS/Kouichi Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, center, prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old city, Thursday July 13, 2006. Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi urged Israel to show restraint and not seek 'an eye for an eye' Wednesday after two Israeli soldiers were captured by Hezbollah guerrillas along the northern border. (AP Photo/Koichi Nakamura, Japan Pool)Japanese...

Loving tender and holding tight are about more than Elvis for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi . Beneath the spontaneity and flamboyance that his countrymen sum up as Koizumi Theater lies heartfelt compassion. On Thursday last week, the day before he went to Graceland, Koizumi spent some quality time with U.S. soldiers wounded in Iraq and recovering at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Koizumi, boyish with a bohemian hair flip, chatted with several patients and posed for pictures with them and their families on the hospital's fifth floor, the Japanese Embassy's minister for public affairs, Mitsuru Kitano , said...

Now Who Is Outside Air Force One?

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President Bush will spend the Fourth of July holiday with troops and their families at Fort Bragg in the state of North Carolina, where he says he will thank them for their service in what he calls freedom's cause. The President's 60th birthday is coming up this Thursday. So the Associated Press published some GWB quips about his age: "Security is strong at the airports. I hope they stop taking off the shoes of the elderly. I must confess, they haven't taken off my shoes lately at the airport." — Jan. 23, at Kansas State...

Today President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi tiured the Elvis Presley's Grace Land Mansion in Memphis Tenn. Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley were the tour guides for the President , First Lady and Prime Minister Koizumi. The three of them also visited the Hotel where Rev. Martin Luther King was assissinated. Tonight the President was in Ohio for a fund raiser for Senator Mike Dewine

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has visited the home of his musical hero, Elvis Presley, as a guest of US President George W Bush. The Japanese PM showed off his Elvis impression Mr Koizumi burst into song with a few bars of "Love Me Tender" in the Jungle Room of Graceland on a private tour led by the singer's ex-wife. The tour is being widely seen as Mr Bush's thank-you to a loyal ally who is due to step down in September. The visit follows talks that focused on N Korea and beef imports on Thursday. Serenade To the strains...

President George W. Bush took devout Elvis fan Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on a road trip to Graceland on Friday to pay homage to the King of Rock-n'-Roll, underscoring the allies' "Love Me Tender" bond. Wrapping up a two-day summit with Koizumi that touched on the North Korean nuclear threat and world trade talks, the two leaders were ready for a "A Little Less Conversation" as they boarded Air Force One to head to Memphis. For Koizumi, 64, who shares a birthday with Elvis Presley and whose wavy hairstyle resembles that of the singer, the tour of Presley's Graceland...

President Bush, the first lady and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi are going whole hog on their visit to Memphis Friday. They've selected the Rendezvous for lunch after less than two hours at Graceland. According to an abbreviated schedule subject to revision, the White House says Bush and Koizumi will tour Graceland Friday morning before heading Downtown for lunch at the landmark barbecue joint. There are no details yet on who will be guests at the luncheon gathering in the Bluff City institution in the alley behind South Second Street. The restaurant was closed Monday, as usual, and owner Charles...

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is in the United States as part of a farewell tour of North America. His summit meeting with President George W Bush is intended to highlight the close relationships he has built up over the past five years. Barring unforeseen circumstances, this will be the last time the two leaders will meet in the US before Mr Koizumi steps down as leader in September. And it is a chance for the American leader to say goodbye to his good friend. From across the political spectrum, Mr Koizumi is widely seen in the United States...

President Bush and Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi held a press conference (text and video here) at the White House to discuss the war on terror, defending freedom and democracy, promoting regional security and prosperity in Asia (including North Korea), and enhancing closer cooperation on global economic issues (including Japan now agreeing to open its markets to US beef). This is Koizumi's farewell visit, as he steps down from his position as Prime Minister in September. President and Mrs. Bush will host an official dinner tonight for the Prime Minister. Secretary of State Rice continues her G8 Foreign Minister Summit...

Junichiro Koizumi has presided over Japan’s worst relations with China since ties were normalised in 1972, but the Japanese prime minister will seek this week to underline just how much he has done to cement the US-Japan alliance. Mr Koizumi heads off on Monday for Ottawa, Washington and Graceland, where President George W. Bush will escort Japan’s most famous Elvis fan around the singer’s former home. The trip starts in Ottawa, where on Wednesday Mr Koizumi will meet Stephen Harper, Canada’s recently elected prime minister, for the first time. Canadian officials are delighted there is to be no “Canada-passing”. This...

As far as diplomacy is concerned, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is arguably the most controversial leader Japan has seen in recent years -- a man both censured and praised since taking office in April 2001. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi chats with U.S. President George W. Bush in Crawford, Texas, in May 2003 and meets with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta in April 2005. His diplomatic stance has been a nightmare for those hoping for closer ties between Japan and its Asian neighbors, but to conservatives he has been a quick, decisive leader...