We're celebrating the 4th anniversary of Koizumi's email magazine - from which we have quoted extensively in the past - a bit late but here's a few selections anyway...
[On the Magazine]
It was a great surprise to see the number of subscribers climb way beyond my initial expectations...Even now, although subscriber numbers have fallen back a little, there are still around 1.6 million people...Think about it. There are only a few weekly print magazines that sell over a million copies. Yet every week, more than a million people read my e-mail magazine.
[On COOLBIZ]
There was a funny episode on the first day of COOL BIZ. I had said that the temperature should be set at 28 degrees. On that day, regardless of the fact that the temperature outside was below 28 degrees, I felt really hot when I walked into my office. When I asked why, the response was that the temperature had been set at 28 degrees. It is these sorts of things that I wish people would not take so literally and deal with a little more flexibly.
[On Stress]
--- Do you employ any special means to help you relax, for example playing music as you fall asleep?
I listen to music all the time, but what works for me is having a TV in my bathroom.
--- So you take long baths?
No, I take quick baths. I am usually in and out in three to four minutes.
--- And the TV extends your bath by about how many more minutes?
Well, when I take a bath during a news program, I tend to stay in the tub anywhere between five to ten minutes, until the news report ends.
[On Geography]
I meet foreign leaders on many occasions, so I need to be up-to-date on events and hot topics in those countries. This is especially true as many foreign leaders have been visiting Japan lately. Do you know of the country Andorra?
--- No, I've never heard the name before. I think it could be the
first time for many of the readers too.
Andorra is located between France and Spain, with a population of 70,000.
[On the Future of the Email Magazine]
Considering that over one million readers take time to look at the e-mail magazine, I am very conscious of not boring people with dull and unexciting topics...Every week I try to raise a topic that readers can talk about with their family members and friends. It is therefore important to include casual and contemporary topics...People may start up their conversation with a question like, "Hey, did you read Prime Minister Koizumi's e-mail magazine today?" to which some might answer, "Yes, he said something like . . . ," or "He mentioned something good," while there may be times when people will go, "He's talking nonsense." I hope that the e-mail magazine will spark conversations in this way.
--- Thank you very much.
Thank you.
