Nearly three years have passed since Junichiro Koizumi made his dashing debut as prime minister with an unprecedentedly high public approval rate of 80 percent, after declaring somewhat self-contradictorily that he would not hesitate to destroy his own Liberal Democratic Party to attain his reform goals.
Today many newspaper editorials tease him about his fading image, yet he is still favored by nearly 50 percent of the population -- partly because, as many lament, there seems to be nobody to replace him.
The Japanese political scene is said to face three major turning points over the next 12 months: the end of the current fiscal year in March, the end of the current ordinary Diet session in June and the election of the LDP president in September. In addition, local elections will be held nationwide in April.