TOKYO -- Former Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa caused a stir yesterday in two ways. Not only did he hint that he would seriously consider running in the election to decide Tokyo's next governor, but also that he would only run if backed by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. If this endorsement happens, it would rekindle a political alliance first formed 20 years ago.
Hosokawa was prime minister from August 1993 until April 1994, heading a coalition government that was the first non-Liberal Democratic Party government since 1955. Koizumi, as head of the LDP, was prime minister from 2001 to 2006.
