Liberal Democratic Party candidates who were drafted four years ago by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and swept into victory by upholding his reforms lost their single-seat districts across the country Sunday.
The 83 lawmakers elected in 2005 became known as "Koizumi's Children." Most were defeated in their districts by candidates who were "parachuted" in by the Democratic Party of Japan and others in a style much like their own party once adopted.
In the Shizuoka No. 7 district, Satsuki Katayama, touted by Koizumi as a "Madonna of reform," was defeated by independent Minoru Kiuchi, 44, an LDP rebel who voted against Koizumi's postal reform bills and was forced to give up the seat to the 50-year-old Katayama in the last election.