Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has declared he will continue his predecessor's reform policies. That's hardly a surprise, as Abe was Chief Cabinet Secretary under former leader Junichiro Koizumi, and before that was secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party when Koizumi was its president.
What may come as a surprise, however, is the fact that Abe shares another crucial bond with Koizumi -- their hairdresser.
"Koizumi's hairstyle has a strong impact, and I thought it would definitely be a talking point when he became prime minister," Tadashi Muragi, both men's hairdresser, said in the small basement shop in Tokyo's political hub of Nagatacho where he started working with his father about 25 years ago.