Look young, please

LIKE water down a mountain, political decisions in Japan have long flowed in one direction, from elderly politicians to their long-suffering junior colleagues. But Junichiro Koizumi is attempting a geological shift. In September, the 61-year-old prime minister shocked and impressed Japan by naming Shinzo Abe—at age 49, a political toddler—as the Liberal Democratic Party's secretary-general: a powerful post from which to lead the party's campaign for the elections on November 9th. This week, in case his point was unclear, Mr Koizumi ignored the protests of 85-year-old Yasuhiro Nakasone, a former prime minister and LDP heavyweight, by declaring him past his sell-by date and bouncing him from parliament. Fittingly, Mr Koizumi sent Mr Abe to deliver the message.