LDP Leader Hopeful Koizumi Reveals Reunion with Birth Mother

   Tokyo, Sept. 12 (Jiji Press)--Former Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, a candidate in the leadership election of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Thursday that he reunited with his birth mother earlier this year for the first time since his parents divorced when he was an infant.
   "It was good to meet her," Koizumi, 43, said during an event to hear speeches by LDP leadership candidates.
   "We hadn't seen each other for 43 years, and we have different surnames. Still, family is family," said Koizumi, an advocate of a selective dual surname system for married couples.
   "I want to live as a politician who broadens possibilities in life," he added.
   His father is former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

(2024/09/12-17:52)

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