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Article: A Land Without Patriots: The Yasukuni Controversy and Japanese Nationalism.(Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to shrine for Japan's war dead)
- Article from:
- World Policy Journal
- Article date:
- September 22, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 World Policy Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Junichiro Koizumi, in office only since April, is by far Japan's most popular prime minister in more than one hundred years of parliamentary history. Polls show support for Koizumi in excess of 80 percent. But such figures do not tell half the story. He is the first prime minister to rise to power solely through popular will, defying the traditional strength of organized voting blocs. And, by the will of the people, he has declared war on his own political party, the long-ruling Liberal-Democrats, and on the state bureaucracy, which is in effect the non-elected government. His call for reform, if successful, will fundamentally alter the Japanese order.
The ...