In a rousing speech in Yokohama on the weekend, Koizumi pressed current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to abandon nuclear energy in favour of renewable resources such as solar and wind.
The former leader, who embraced nuclear power while in office, joined the debate still raging in Japan since the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Koizumi said that the Japanese authorities will struggle to permanently dispose of radioactive waste from the Fukushima facility in the face of widespread public opposition.
