Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday became the sixth postwar prime minister to remain in office at least 1,000 days and has served one of the longest stints in recent years.

The record is remarkable, considering the country has seen nine prime ministers since 1990 as the post traded hands amid power struggles involving a limited circle of political forces.

If Koizumi serves his full term until September 2006 -- or 5 1/2 years since taking office -- his administration would be the third-longest in postwar history.

Koizumi, however, did not look happy Tuesday. He said his time in office has been agonizing, likening it to "sennichi (1,000-day) kaiho-gyo," a strict Buddhist discipline carried out on Mount Hiei in Shiga Prefecture.

"A thousand days? They have passed so quickly," Koizumi said when asked by reporters for comment.

"It's been very tough every day. Although it's my job, in order to stay with it I have to tell myself that it's like a religious discipline."

Koizumi in fact faces a rocky road ahead in the 150-day ordinary Diet session that opened Monday, including a big political challenge if any of the Self-Defense Forces personnel deployed to Iraq become casualties.

He dispatched SDF elements to the country despite mounting public criticism.

Opposition lawmakers are now bracing to confront Koizumi over his plans to privatize four debt-ridden public road entities and remedy the public pension system. The proposed reforms have already been branded by the media as total failures.