Mizuho Fukushima

Mizuho Fukushima (福島 瑞穂, Fukushima Mizuho, born 24 December 1955) is a Japanese politician, attorney. A native of Nobeoka, Miyazaki, she has been a member of the House of Councillors since 1998,[2] was re-elected in 2004 and 2010,[1] and was the head of the Social Democratic Party of Japan (SDP), from 2003 to 2013.[3] She was elected as the leader of the party for a second time in February 2020.[4]

Mizuho Fukushima
福島 瑞穂
Fukushima in 2010
Chairwoman of the Social Democratic Party
Assumed office
22 February 2020
Preceded bySeiji Mataichi
In office
15 November 2003 – 25 July 2013
Preceded byTakako Doi
Succeeded byTadatomo Yoshida
Member of the House of Councillors
Assumed office
20 July 1998
ConstituencyNational PR
Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety
In office
16 September 2009 – 28 May 2010
Prime MinisterYukio Hatoyama
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byHirofumi Hirano
Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for Low Birth Rate
In office
16 September 2009 – 28 May 2010
Prime MinisterYukio Hatoyama
Preceded byPosition established
Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for Sex Equality
In office
16 September 2009 – 28 May 2010
Prime MinisterYukio Hatoyama
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
Born (1955-12-24) 24 December 1955
Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan
Political partySocial Democratic Party
Alma materUniversity of Tokyo
OccupationPolitician and lawyer[1]

Education and career before politics

After graduating from the University of Tokyo with a Bachelor of Laws degree, she became a lawyer in 1987. She was a Visiting Professor at Gakushuin Women's College.

Political career and political views

Fukushima was also Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety, Social Affairs, and Gender Equality in Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's cabinet (16 September 2009 – 28 May 2010); the SDP was the junior partner in the DPJ-led government coalition. However, in May 2010 disagreements over the issue of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma led to the sacking of Fukushima from the cabinet on 28 May and the SDP subsequently voted to leave the ruling coalition.[5]

Fukushima's Social Democratic Party has an anti-nuclear platform, and she has been referred to as a prominent anti-nuclear activist. For three decades, she was at the forefront of an often futile fight against the utilities that operated Japan's nuclear reactors, the corporations that built them and the bureaucrats who enabled them. That situation changed with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011.[6]

She has opposed capital punishment on the SDP website.[7]

After a disappointing result in the 2013 election for the House of Councillors she announced her resignation as head of the party.[8]

Fukushima was elected as the leader of the Social Democratic Party on 22 February 2020.[4]

Fukushima was recipient of Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite in December 2020.

See also

References
  1. (in Japanese)
  2. House of Councillors website List of the Members Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
  3. The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan Mizuho Fukushima, Leader, Social Democratic Party of Japan Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Japan's Social Democratic Party looks to the past in picking Mizuho Fukushima for top post". The Japan Times. 23 February 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  5. BBC News Socialists leave Japan coalition over Okinawa issue
  6. Ken Belson (August 19, 2011). "Two Voices Are Heard After Years of Futility". New York Times.
  7. "社民党OfficialWeb" (in Japanese). 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13.
  8. Japan Times SDP’s Fukushima resigns over dual election losses July 25, 2013
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