Junichiro Koizumi

As prime minister, Koizumi made annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine, a Shinto shrine that honors Japan's war dead including convicted war criminals. The visits drew strong protests from China and South Korea, straining Japan's diplomatic relations in East Asia, while Koizumi defended them as a personal tribute to those who died for Japan.

Koizumi's government authorized the dispatch of Japanese Self-Defense Forces to Iraq for non-combat reconstruction and humanitarian aid, marking the first such deployment to a combat zone since World War II. The decision was controversial domestically and faced legal challenges, but was framed as supporting the US-led coalition.

Following his electoral victory, Koizumi's government passed a series of laws in October 2005 to privatize Japan Post, splitting it into four entities: postal service, banking, insurance, and a holding company. The reform aimed to increase efficiency and reduce the government's role in the financial sector, though implementation was later slowed.

After the upper house rejected his postal privatization bill, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the lower house and called a snap election. He campaigned against his own party's rebels, winning a landslide victory and securing a mandate to privatize Japan Post, a major state-owned financial and postal service.