Koizumis gamble
The week's news at a glance.
Tokyo
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called for early elections this week, after the Diet struck down his biggest reform effort. Japan, like some European countries, offers banking services such as savings accounts and automatic bill-paying at post offices. Koizumi planned to privatize the financial activities of the postal service to form the world’s largest bank, a move he said would shrink the bloated bureaucracy. After some members of his own Liberal Democratic Party opposed the privatization, Koizumi dissolved the legislature and set elections for next month—a vote that will serve as a referendum on his reforms, but could toss his party from power. “Four years ago, I said I’d change the LDP,” Koizumi said. “And if it doesn’t change, I’ll destroy it.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raids
In the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?
Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classrooms
Pros and cons The devices could be major distractions