Harumi Yoshida
Harumi Yoshida | |
---|---|
吉田 晴美 | |
Member of the House of Representatives | |
Assumed office 31 October 2021 | |
Preceded by | Nobuteru Ishihara |
Constituency | Tokyo 8th |
Personal details | |
Born | Nishimurayama, Yamagata, Japan | 1 January 1972
Political party | CDP (since 2017) |
Other political affiliations | DPJ (2012–2016) DP (2016–2017) |
Alma mater | Rikkyo University University of Birmingham |
Website | Official website |
Harumi Yoshida (吉田 晴美, Yoshida Harumi, born 1 January 1972) is a Japanese politician who currently serves as a member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo's 8th district. She defeated Nobuteru Ishihara in the 2021 Japanese general election.[1] She stood in the 2024 CDP leadership election, where she placed fourth.
Biography
[edit]She was born in the town of Kahoku inside the Nishimurayama District of Yamagata, and grew up in a greengrocer's family. After graduating from High School, she first attended Rikkyo University and majored in Japanese literature, before beginning work as a flight attendant and married.[2]
She studied abroad at the University of Birmingham in 2002, and obtained a Master of Business Administration in 2003. After, she worked as a management consultant for KPMG Healthcare in Japan.[2]
She entered politics beginning in the early 2010s, first running in the Chiba Prefectural Assembly election in 2011 for the Ichikawa City constituency, which elects six seats. Her and every Democratic Party of Japan candidate in the seat were defeated.[3] In early 2012, she then became Secretary to Toshio Ogawa, a member of the House of Councillors and Minister of Justice.[4] The following year, in 2013, she was nominated by the Democratic Party for the House of Councilors election in the Iwate at-large district. However, she placed fourth.[4]
In 2016, she was selected by the Democratic Party as branch chief for Tokyo-8th in the upcoming general election.[5]
After continuing her own work in the private sector for the next few years, the Democratic Party and President Seiji Maehara effectively agreed to merge with Kibō no Tō, a party newly founded by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.[6] Following the announcement, several politicians inside the Democratic Party denounced this, such as Yukio Edano, and moved to form a new party due to Koike refusing to put up liberal candidates, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.[7] On the same day the new party was announced, Yoshida, alongside Yosuke Suzuki and Akihiro Matsuo (who also served as branch chiefs in certain areas), announced their intention to run under the CDP in their respective districts.[8]
The next day, it was announced that Kibō no Tō would be standing Takatane Kiuchi, a businessman and CEO in the district against Yoshida and Ishihara.[9] Despite the relative success of the CDP in beating Koike's party for second in the general election, Yoshida lost in what was mainly chalked up to a vote split in the opposition. CDP, KnT, and Communist candidates all took sizeable chunks of the vote, while Ishihara won with less than 40% of the vote.[10] She did not win a seat through proportional representation.
2021 election
[edit]On 12 September 2020, Nippon Ishin no Kai announced it would field former Sanda City Council member Keiji Kasatani as their candidate for Tokyo's 8th district in the next general election.[11] Three days later, a majority of the Democratic Party For the People and the CDP merged with the CDP being founded again. On 28 September, the Japanese Communist Party announced it was also fielding a candidate for the district, former Suginami Assembly member Masatake Kamibo.[12] He lost by thirteen votes in his assembly ward in 2019.[13]
At 2 A.M on 8 October in 2021, shortly after the announcement of the next general election, the Tokyo Shimbun reported that Reiwa Shinsengumi leader Taro Yamamoto had decided to run in the 8th district in Tokyo, as he had run there previously. The report also stated that he was expected to become the "unified opposition candidate", causing confusion with Yoshida and the CDP.[14] CDP leader Yukio Edano held a press conference the following morning, asking Yamamoto to reconsider. He cited that "Our party's candidate has been rooted in the local community for many years and thinks that she can fight on equal terms in a single-seat district."[15] That evening, Yamamoto declared his candidacy for the district in front of Shinjuku Station. At this point, coordination between the CDP and JCP had progressed towards unifying behind Yoshida, but Yamamoto emphasized that coordination was progressing to unify behind him, saying, "We can't do this without collaborating."[15] On 9 October, Edano stated that he was "frankly confused", and the two sides were at odds.[16] After receiving backlash from local civic groups, Yamamoto withdrew from the district. He revealed that, in November 2019, the CDP had approached him to run in the district.[17] The JCP announced that Masatake had withdrawn, and the SDP Tokyo branch along with Reiwa Shinsengumi endorsed Yoshida.[18] Yamamoto instead ran in the Tokyo proportional block.[19]
On the general election a few days later, Yoshida, who had gained fame for the incident with Yamamoto, defeated Nobuteru Ishihara of the LDP and Keiji Kasatani of Nippon Ishin no Kai, who had run as a third opposition vote, in line with Ishin across the country. Yoshida nearly won with 50% of the vote. Both Ishihara and Kasatani were unable to be elected to the proportional block.[20][21][22] During the leadership election in the CDP after Yukio Edano resigned, she was an endorser of Chinami Nishimura.[23]
CDP leadership bid
[edit]On 7 September 2024, following the announcement of the CDP leadership election, she announced her own candidacy after Kenji Eda announced he would not run.[24] She placed fourth and was eliminated in the first round, with eventual winner Yoshihiko Noda appointing her as Shadow Minister of State for Gender Equality as a part of his Next Cabinet.[25]
Personal life
[edit]She is married. She has publicly announced one of her daughters was diagnosed with autism.[26]
References
[edit]- ^ Johnson, Jesse. "Big-name Japanese politicians chopped down to size in Lower House poll". japantimes. Japan Times. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ a b "インタビュー 吉田 晴美 HARUMI YOSHIDA". 第10回全国学生英語プレゼンテーションコンテスト. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ 千葉県議会議員選挙 – 2011年4月10日投票 市川市選挙区 | 候補者一覧 | 政治山
- ^ a b "参院選候補に吉田氏を擁立 民主岩手県連". 産経新聞. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "鳥越候補、浜田候補が渋谷区で個人演説会". 長妻 昭(ながつま昭)オフィシャルWEBサイト. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "民進「希望」参加容認を検討 前原、小池氏ら極秘会談". 中日新聞. 27 September 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "Major opposition's liberal wing to form new group". Kyodo News. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ "「立憲民主党に合流」東京で民進公認予定だった4氏 希望の党に公認申請せず". 産経新聞. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "【衆院選】希望の党・第1次公認リスト(192人)(2/4ページ)". 産経新聞. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "<衆院選 東京8区>自民の"牙城"で激しい選挙戦". TOKYO MX. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "「日本維新の会」衆議院選挙区支部長選任者発表について" (PDF). 日本維新の会. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "小選挙区候補を追加発表/東京8区に上保まさたけ氏". 日本共産党東京都委員会. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ 杉並区議会議員選挙 – 2019年4月21日投票 | 候補者一覧 | 政治山
- ^ 沢田千秋 (8 October 2021). "山本太郎氏 衆院選、東京8区で出馬へ 石原伸晃元自民幹事長と対決 野党共闘の象徴目指す". 東京新聞. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ a b 北見英城、神沢和敬 (8 October 2021). "山本太郎氏が衆院東京8区から立候補へ 一本化を調整中、野党は困惑". 朝日新聞. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "山本氏の東京8区出馬「困惑」 立民代表". 時事ドットコムニュース. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "山本太郎氏、衆院選東京8区からの出馬を取りやめ 「思った以上に混乱大きく」 「立民から出馬の打診あった」と経緯語る". 東京新聞. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "東京8区、共産が候補取り下げへ 立民・吉田氏が野党統一候補に". 産経新聞. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ 北見英城 (16 October 2021). "れいわ・山本太郎代表、比例単独で立候補へ 名簿順位は1位". 朝日新聞. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "衆議院選挙2021 東京(千代田区・港区など)開票速報・選挙結果". 衆議院選挙2021特設サイト. NHK. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "【2021年 衆院選】東京ブロック(比例区)開票速報". 衆議院選挙(2021年総選挙)特設サイト. 朝日新聞社. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ 砂上麻子 (31 October 2021). "立民新人の吉田晴美さん、野党共闘で「自民の本丸」東京8区で勝利 れいわ・山本代表も後押し". 東京新聞. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "立憲代表選、4陣営の推薦人は計90人 国会議員の7割固まる". 朝日新聞. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ "吉田晴美氏が立憲民主党代表選に出馬へ…江田憲司氏は立候補断念し吉田氏支援". 読売新聞オンライン (in Japanese). 7 September 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
- ^ "野田「次の内閣」発足 「安定感と刷新感のバランス」と野田代表" (in Japanese). Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
- ^ "吉田はるみ|プロフィール". 吉田はるみ公式HP. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
- 1972 births
- 21st-century Japanese women politicians
- Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan politicians
- Politicians from Yamagata Prefecture
- Living people
- Alumni of the University of Birmingham
- Rikkyo University alumni
- Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2021–2024
- Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2024–