Armed with more charisma and nerve than raw political muscle , Mr . Koizumi began pursuing his gargantuan tasks . Into a political system that had operated on consensus and conformity for nearly half a century , he introduced a level of leadership that was unprecedented . More often than not , Mr . Koizumi led the masses in order to force his and their will on his often recalcitrant parliamentary colleagues . In what appears to have been a successful effort to turn around Japan ’ s long - suffering , recession - plagued economy , which has now achieved three consecutive years of growth exceeding 2 percent , he introduced market forces , deregulation and business accountability in place of near - total reliance upon pork - barrel spending , which had raised Japan ’ s public debt to record levels .