ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will analyse the Koizumi administration in historical and theoretical perspective. Towards that end, I will first take up the particular historical phase in which the Koizumi administration appeared. Was it a mere coincidence or an inevitable development that the Koizumi administration took office just as the 21st century began? While I do not subscribe to a Marxist-style determinism, when one considers the trends in postwar politics there did seem to be a historical imperative at work that called for a leader like Koizumi to appear. I shall therefore try to shed some light on the historical context of Koizumi’s entry onto the scene, and the role he played therein.
