What appears to be a revolutionary change occurred in Japanese politics two weeks ago when Junichiro Koizumi became prime minister following his stunning victory in the LDP presidential election. Koizumi's victory was unexpected since Japanese prime ministers had traditionally been picked by LDP kingmakers on the basis of the factional balance of power in the party. True to his promise, reform-minded Koizumi appointed members of his Cabinet without seeking nominations from major factions, as was the practice in the past. Koizumi's first policy speech to the Diet was also well-received.

I am concerned, however, by the hawkish stance of some members of the new Cabinet and by Koizumi's scant diplomatic experience. Another problem centers on Koizumi's campaign pledge to pay his respects at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine -- which is dedicated to Japan's war dead and was used during World War II as a symbol of nationalism -- on Aug. 15, the anniversary of the end of the war. Even Koizumi's supporters were stunned by the announcement, since past Japanese prime ministers and Cabinet members had refrained from visiting the shrine in their official capacity to avoid criticism from China and South Korea.

Koizumi failed to take into account Chinese and South Korean protests against the Education Ministry's approval, with some revisions, of junior high-school history textbooks that allegedly gloss over Japan's wartime aggression in China and its annexation of the Korean Peninsula. The approval of the textbooks, which were compiled by conservative academics and commentators, was given while Koizumi's predecessor, Yoshiro Mori, was in office.