When Shinjiro Koizumi joined the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race last year, he chose to go big. He set up his campaign headquarters in a glass-walled building, launched a bold social media strategy and kicked off his campaign in Tokyo’s ritzy Ginza district.
Like his father, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, he set himself up as a maverick, calling for reform after a financial scandal rattled the LDP to its core.
But now, in his second bid for the presidency, he has toned down his rhetoric, avoiding controversial proposals for social and labor reform and pledging instead to carry on the work of previous administrations.
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