`Koizumi`s Children` blown away by winds of change

TOKYO, Aug. 31 Kyodo -
With the Japanese public overwhelmingly supporting the Democratic Party of
Japan in Sunday's general election, the 83 Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers
who were elected in 2005 for the first time on the back of the popularity of
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi have nearly all been wiped out, with only 10
of them managing to keep their seats.
Of the lawmakers touted as ''Koizumi's Children,'' 73 ran in the House of
Representatives election on the LDP ticket this time, but even the key figures
among them were beaten by candidates fielded in constituencies by the DPJ in a
manner much like the LDP adopted four years ago.
In the Shizuoka No. 7 district, Satsuki Katayama, touted by Koizumi as a
''madonna of reform,'' was defeated by independent Minoru Kiuchi, 44, an LDP
rebel who voted against Koizumi's postal reform bills and was forced to give up
the seat to the 50-year-old at the last election.
''The LDP used up everything it gained through the landslide victory (in 2005)
over the past four years,'' a tearful Katayama told her supporters. She also
failed to regain a seat through the proportional representation block.
''The past four years have been a fight against the symbols of Koizumi's
reforms, and we have proved they were wrong,'' Kiuchi said.
Katayama, a former beauty queen at the University of Tokyo who later became a
Finance Ministry bureaucrat, served as a parliamentary secretary of the
Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry after entering the lower house.
Yukari Sato, a former chief economist at Credit Suisse First Boston who became
one of Koizumi's ''assassin'' candidates fielded against LDP dissidents, also
suffered a loss in her constituency in Tokyo this time against the DPJ's Yoshio
Tezuka, 42, who served two terms in the lower house before losing his seat in
2005. Sato also failed to win a seat in the proportional representation block.
The 48-year-old was fielded in a constituency in Gifu Prefecture to fight off
Seiko Noda, 48, who opposed the postal reforms, but after Noda won back LDP
support Sato was fielded in Tokyo instead this time.
''The great wind blowing against our party was unimaginable,'' said Sato,
attributing her loss to having no support organization after switching her
constituency.
Nobuko Iwaki, another key figure known for wearing pink suits, succumbed to the
DPJ's Hirofumi Hirano, 60, in an Osaka constituency and lost her seat. The
63-year-old was faced with a scandal in February when a foundation she headed
was reported to have moved its 340 million yen in debts off its books in what
appears to be irregular accounting.
Koizumi's former secretary Jiro Ono, 56, who had served as a senior official at
the National Police Agency, lost to the DPJ's Hitoshi Goto, 52, and failed to
win a seat in the proportional representation block.
Ono followed Koizumi when he abstained from casting a ballot in the revote on a
bill to implement a contentious cash handout plan -- the only two LDP lawmakers
to reject the policy spearheaded by Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Makiko Fujino, 59, a cooking expert who won a seat in 2005 by calling for
providing food education, was unseated by the DPJ's Yoshio Maki, 51, in her
Aichi Prefecture constituency and also could not win a seat through the
proportional representation block.
Some of the ''children'' who failed to pick up endorsements from the LDP
decided to run in the election for other parties or drop out.
For 36-year-old Koichi Yamauchi, the decision to run on the newly launched Your
Party ticket paid off as he won through the proportional representation block,
while Motoko Hirotsu, 56, who also switched to the party, lost her seat.
Kuniko Inoguchi, 57, another ''madonna'' who was state minister in charge of
gender equality, opted not to run in the election after the LDP reportedly
decided not to place her in the first group to be given seats in the
proportional representation section.
Taizo Sugimura, 30, who drew public attention due to his youth, also decided
not to run in the election.
Three of the ''children'' left their parliamentary seats to run in mayoral
elections, but two lost this year to DPJ-backed candidates. Yoshihiko Fukuda,
who ran as an independent against another independent in the Iwakuni mayoral
election, was the only one to make a successful transition.
Koizumi's own real child, Shinjiro Koizumi, 28, won his father's seat in the
Kanagawa No. 11 district, defeating DPJ rival Katsuhito Yokokume, 27.
==Kyodo