The 20 endorsements Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi collected to cement his candidacy in the LDP presidential election underscore his tendency to operate outside factional lines.
Koizumi received half the required 20 signatures from the camp that supports his reform efforts -- four from the faction led by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, three from the faction led by LDP Secretary General Taku Yamasaki and three more from the group led by former labor minister Sadatoshi Ozato.
But he also secured recommendations from the antireform camp. Mikio Aoki, Toranosuke Katayama, Eita Yashiro and Shigeru Ishiba -- all from the faction lead by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto -- endorsed Koizumi.