Shinjiro Koizumi enters politics

Junichiro Koizumi announced his retirement from politics last week, and he wants voters to elect his son to replace him. Junichiro first ran for political office when he was 27-years-old, and now that his son Shinjiro has reached that age, he has chosen to have Shinjiro inherit the family job:

Some supporters shouted messages such as, “Good luck! We’ll follow you,” and “Fourth generation!”

Indeed, if elected, Shinjiro would be a fourth-generation politician. His grandfather and great-grandfather both served as state ministers.

After graduating from Kanto Gakuin University in Kanagawa Prefecture, Shinjiro attended Columbia University graduate school in the United States.

After studying the Japan-U.S. relationship at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank, he returned to Japan in June last year and became his father’s aide.

“He is more amiable than his father,” said one supporter in Koizumi’s constituency, which comprises the cities of Yokosuka and Miura.

Junichiro Koizumi’s other son, Kotaro, is an actor, and I’ve heard several people comment on how Shinjiro looks very similar to his handsome brother.