Junichiro Koizumi brought a new approach to being premier
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Japan's Premier Junichiro Koizumi has stepped down in readiness for a vote in parliament to choose his successor.
It is almost a foregone conclusion that the new prime minister will be former Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe.
Mr Abe won a landslide victory last week in the leadership election of the dominant Liberal Democratic Party.
One of his first challenges will be to repair ties with Japan's neighbours, in the wake of Mr Koizumi's annual visits to the controversial Yasukuni shrine.
Rich legacy
Junichiro Koizumi held the premiership for more than five years, and will be remembered for his economic reforms and his close relationship with US President George W Bush.
He came to power in 2001, promising to transform the country's political landscape.
He said he would destroy his own party - the LDP - if that was what was needed to push through much-needed reforms.
He tried to boost Japan's world presence, sending troops to Iraq and taking a firm line on North Korea.
The BBC correspondent in Tokyo, Chris Hogg, says that with his flowing locks - so admired by many Japanese women - the divorced and single Mr Koizumi offered the electorate a change from the grey men they had been used to.
He was unconventional, but more importantly straight-talking, our correspondent says. He knew how to communicate directly with the people, using slogans and sound bites they would understand.
Japan had not really seen this before, and analysts say his most important achievement may prove to be that he persuaded the country that economic reforms mattered.
But his annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, where the country's war dead are honoured, angered Japan's neighbours.
Improving relations with China and South Korea will be high on the agenda for his successor.
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