When he roared into office in April, the maverick Junichiro Koizumi vowed to die hard in a fight against old guard forces within his own Liberal Democratic Party. His proclaimed mission was clear: to turn around the decade-long economic slump in the medium and long terms through "bold structural reforms without leaving any sanctuary."
To be sure, Koizumi has translated his words into action during his seven months in office, daring to put on the table as targets of his reform drive one thing after another, many long considered politically untouchable.
The prime minister has advocated privatizing the public postal savings system -- by far the world's largest financial institution in terms of deposits -- and abolishing or selling to private hands state corporations, many of which have been long criticized as inefficient and no longer useful guzzlers of government subsidies.