On Feb. 18, the day before his latest CD was set to hit store shelves, lawmaker Ichita Yamamoto met Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at his official residence in order to hand him a copy of "Kaikaku no Uta" ("Song for Reform").

A House of Councilors member of the Liberal Democratic Party, Yamamoto treads a maverick path within the chamber often referred to as the "House of Common Sense" and within a party where old-guard politicians still wield strong clout.

"You have to use all the tools you have to win over those old politicians," Yamamoto said in a recent interview.