In July 2001, two very different people offer hope to the people of Japan. One is baseball player Ichiro Suzuki, the star of the Seattle Mariners. His cool looks and great hits suggest the possibilities of the sporting dream across the sea. The other is Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, with his wavy hair and maverick style. He offers hope at home as he prepares for the July Upper House elections.
In Japan, will the hope-givers continue to deliver next year and after? With good luck and no injuries, Ichiro might. In politics, the future is harder to predict.
Koizumi fascinates voters and offers hope, like a pied piper about to lead Japan across a bridge and into a new era. He appeals partly as a maverick, ready to do unusual things. Supported by his relief pitcher, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, he shocks some establishments. In one reading, the white knight, in her omnipresent white suit, takes on the foreign affairs bureaucrats. To more critical eyes, she also plays Robin to Koizumi's Batman in a choreographed "fight for good" against LDP member Muneo Suzuki and the LDP's factions.