was a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese politician who served as Director General of the Japan Defense Agency

Japan Defense Agency

The is a cabinet-level ministry of the Japanese government. As a result of a law enacted on December 15, 2006, it became a ministry on January 9, 2007. Prior to that, it was the Japan Defense Agency ...

 during the 1960s.

Koizumi was born in Higashi-Kaseda

Kaseda, Kagoshima

Kaseda was a city located in Kagoshima, Japan.On November 7, 2005 Kaseda was merged with the town of Kinpō, from Hioki District, and the towns of Bonotsu, Kasasa and Ōura from Kawanabe District, to form the new city of Minamisatsuma...

, Kagoshima Prefecture

Kagoshima Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. The capital is the city of Kagoshima.- Geography :Kagoshima Prefecture is located at the southwest tip of Kyushu and includes a chain of islands stretching further to the southwest for a few hundred kilometers...

 (now part of Minami-Satsuma

Minamisatsuma, Kagoshima

is a city located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.The city was founded on November 7, 2005 from the merger of the old city of Kaseda, with the town of Kinpō, from Hioki District, and the towns of Bonotsu, Kasasa and Ōura, all from Kawanabe District, ....

). He attended high school at night while working in a department store, and then attended law classes at Nihon University

Nihon University

Nihon University is the largest university in Japan. Akiyoshi Yamada, the minister of justice, founded Nihon Law School in October 1889....

 while working as a secretary to a Diet

Diet of Japan

The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...

 member. He graduated in 1930 and joined the Rikken Minseito

Rikken Minseito

was one of the main political parties in pre-war Empire of Japan. It was commonly known as the 'Minseitō'.The Minseitō was founded on 1 June 1927, by a merger of the Kenseikai and the Seiyu Hontō political parties. Its leadership included Osachi Hamaguchi, Wakatsuki Reijirō, Yamamoto Tatsuo, ...

 political party. He was elected to the Diet in 1937.

He married Yoshie Koizumi, the daughter of Rikken Minseito director and postal minister Matajiro Koizumi

Matajiro Koizumi

Koizumi Matajirō was the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in Japan. He was a scaffolder's son from Yokohama, known as "wild man" and "irezumi minister" because he had a large tattoo of a red dragon on his back. He sought to privatise the Post Office.Koizumi led a movement to establish...

. Junya and Yoshie Koizumi had six children, including Junichiro Koizumi

Junichiro Koizumi

is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics when his term in parliament ended.Widely seen as a maverick leader of the Liberal Democratic Party , he became known as an economic reformer, focusing on Japan's government debt and the...

, who later became the Prime Minister of Japan

Prime Minister of Japan

The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...

.

Junya Koizumi built an airfield in Kagoshima prefecture in 1944, from which kamikaze

Kamikaze

The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....

 pilots flew to their deaths in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Koizumi was purged from politics by the Allied occupation government in the late 1940s, but returned to the Diet in 1952. He was a close ally of Nobusuke Kishi

Nobusuke Kishi

was a Japanese politician and the 56th and 57th Prime Minister of Japan from February 25, 1957 to June 12, 1958 and from then to July 19, 1960. He was often called Shōwa no yōkai .- Early life :...

 in the postwar years, served as Vice-Minister of Justice under Ichiro Hatoyama

Ichiro Hatoyama

was a Japanese politician and the 52nd, 53rd and 54th Prime Minister of Japan, serving terms from December 10, 1954 through March 19, 1955, from then to November 22, 1955, and from then through December 23, 1956.-Personal life:...

 and became Director General of the Defense Agency under Hayato Ikeda

Hayato Ikeda

born in Takehara, Hiroshima, was a Japanese politician and the 58th, 59th and 60th Prime Minister of Japan from July 19, 1960 to November 9, 1964....

 and Eisaku Sato

Eisaku Sato

This article is about the Prime Minister of Japan. For the governor of Fukushima Prefecture of Japan of the same name, see Eisaku Satō ....

.

See also

• Koizumi family
  Koizumi family
  The Koizumi family has been prominent in Japanese politics since the early 1900s. Notable members of this family include:* Matajiro Koizumi – Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, he was known as the "wild man" and "tattoo minister" because of a large dragon Japanese tattoo on his...