Eiko Kimura

Eiko Kimura (木村 英子, Kimura Eiko, born May 11, 1965) is a Japanese politician and current member of the House of Councillors. She and fellow councillor Yasuhiko Funago became the first people with severe disabilities elected to Japan's National Diet in 2019.[1] She currently serves on the Land and Transport and Fundamental National Policies committees as well as the Special Committee on Official Development Assistance and Related Matters.[2] She is a member of the Reiwa Shinsengumi.[2]

Eiko Kimura
木村英子
Member of House of Councillors
Assumed office
July 29, 2019
Serving with Yasuhiko Funago
ConstituencyNational PR
Personal details
Born (1965-05-11) May 11, 1965
Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Political partyReiwa Shinsengumi

Early life

Kimura was born in Yokohama, Japan on May 11, 1965.[2] She became tetraplegic after falling from a baby walker as a child and injuring her cervical vertebrae.[3] She also has cerebral palsy and is unable to move anything below her neck other than her right hand.[1] She grew up in a care home and attended the Hiratsuka School for Children with Disabilities, graduating in 1984. She decided to live independently when she was 19, and moved to Kunitachi, Tokyo.[2] She knew very little about life outside of the care home, where she mostly interacted with other people with disabilities. This separation from non-disabled people inspired her work and, later, her run for office.[4] Her husband was one of the volunteers who supported her after she moved to Tokyo. They married when she was 24 and had a son together.[3]

Career

Kimura began advocating for disability rights in her 30s, and founded Jiritsu Station Tsubasa, an organization that helps people with disabilities live independently.[5] She has also written two books, one about Jiritsu Station Tsubasa and the other about the Sagamihara stabbings.

She ran for the House of Councillors in 2019 as a member of the Reiwa Shinsengumi and was elected to office alongside Yasuhiko Funago, another politician of her party with severe disabilities. The Diet chambers were renovated to accommodate both of their wheelchairs, adding a ramp and removing three seats. Kimura and Funago have called for social welfare services for people with disabilities to be reformed so that they can be accompanied by caregivers outside of their homes.[6] Kimura also advocates better integrating people with disabilities into Japanese society after her experiences at the care home she grew up in and Hiratsuka School.[7]

References
  1. "Japan's first severely disabled lawmakers join parliament". BBC News. August 1, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  2. "Ms.KIMURA Eiko：House of Councillors". www.sangiin.go.jp. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  3. 日本放送協会. "木村英子さんの「愛とおかずがたっぷりのお弁当」 | 永田町・霞が関のサラめし". NHK政治マガジン (in Japanese). Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  4. Takenaka, Kiyoshi (July 17, 2019). "Japan disabled challenge stigma, barriers to run for upper house seat". Reuters. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  5. "木村 英子（きむら えいこ）：参議院". www.sangiin.go.jp. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  6. Osaki, Tomohiro (August 1, 2019). "Opposition lawmakers with severe disabilities make Upper House debut after steps taken toward creating barrier-free Diet". The Japan Times. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  7. Suzuki, Miwa (February 12, 2020). "Lawmakers with disabilities fight 'invisibility' in Japan". The Japan Times. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
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