Junya Koizumi (小泉純也, ''Koizumi Jun'ya'') (January 24, 1904 – August 10, 1969) was a Japanese politician who served as Director General of the Japan Defense Agency during the 1960s.

Life and career

Koizumi was born in Higashi-Kaseda,

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

(now part of Minami-Satsuma); his family were fishermen. He attended high school at night while working in a department store, and then attended law classes at

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. The university's name is derived from the Ja ...

while working as a secretary to a

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

member. He graduated in 1930 and joined the

Rikken Minseitō was one of the main political parties in pre-war Empire of Japan. It was commonly known as the ''Minseitō''. History The ''Minseitō'' was founded on 1 June 1927, by a merger of the '' Kenseikai'' and the ''Seiyu Hontō'' political parties. ...

political party. He was elected to the Diet in 1937. He married Yoshie Koizumi, the daughter of Rikken Minseitō director and postal minister Matajirō Koizumi, taking her family name. Junya and Yoshie Koizumi had six children, including

Jun'ichirō Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 200 ...

, who later became the

Prime Minister of Japan The is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its ministers of state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Force ...

. Koizumi was purged from politics by the Allied occupation government in the late 1940s, but returned to the Diet in 1952. He was a close ally of

Nobusuke Kishi was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. He is remembered for his exploitative economic management of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in China in the 1930s, ...

in the postwar years, served as Vice-Minister of Justice under

Ichirō Hatoyama was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1954 to 1956. During his tenure he oversaw the formation of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and restored official ...

and became Director General of the Japan Defense Agency under

Hayato Ikeda was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1960 to 1964. He is best known for his Income Doubling Plan, which promised to double the size of Japan's economy in 10 years, and for presiding over the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. ...

and

Eisaku Satō was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1964 to 1972. He is the third longest-serving Japanese prime minister, and is ranked second by longest uninterrupted service. Satō is best remembered for securing the return ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koizumi, Junya 1904 births 1969 deaths Ministers of defense of Japan Junya Members of the House of Representatives (Empire of Japan) Constitutional Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Nihon University alumni Parents of prime ministers of Japan

Life and career

See also

References