HONOLULU -- The stunning electoral victory engineered by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan last week ought to make leaders in Washington, Beijing, Pyongyang, Seoul, and at the United Nations sit up and take note because it marks a great leap forward in Japan's emergence from the passive and pacifist cocoon in which it had wrapped itself since the end of World War II 60 years ago.
Foreign policy didn't figure much in the election campaign, but the consequences of the outcome are striking. As the foreign policy and security posture of every nation is rooted in domestic politics, Koizumi's big win will permit him to wield considerable influence beyond the shores of Japan.
In the House of Representatives, the more powerful of the two houses in Japan's Diet, the prime minister's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won 296 of the 480 seats. Added to that 55-seat margin over a majority are 31 seats won by New Komeito, the LDP's junior partner. Parliamentary leaders around the world would salivate to have that much clout.