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Koizumi only Japanese among Time magazine's 100 who shape the world+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)NEW YORK, April 30_(Kyodo) _ Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is the only Japanese chosen by Time magazine in a list of 100 people who "shape our world," the weekly said Sunday. In its issue for sale on Monday, the magazine carried an article by Ian Buruma, journalism professor at Bard College in New York, who described Koizumi as the prime minister "who shook up old Japan." "The most interesting thing about Junichiro Koizumi is that he is interesting," he said, praising Koizumi for his use of the mass media to project an image of "a good-looking, straight-talking maverick." The Time article said most Japanese prime ministers "have been dull figures, more suited to backroom politicking than to courting public appeal." On a successor to Koizumi, Buruma said, "Whoever takes his place can no longer be a colorless hack chosen in a backroom party deal. He or she will have to be genuinely popular, for better or worse." Koizumi was in the same league of "Leaders & Revolutionaries," a category the magazine says includes dictators, democrats and holy men with the clout and power to change the world. Others in this category included U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The list, which the magazine has issued annually since 2004, also includes figures in such categories as "Artists & Entertainers," "Scientists & Thinkers" and "Heroes & Pioneers". |