Kiyomi Tsujimoto

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Kiyomi Tsujimoto (辻元清美 Tsujimoto Kiyomi) (born 28 April 1960) is a Japanese politician from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), formerly the Japan Socialist Party.

1 Early career
2 Political career
3 Scandal, resignation, and comeback
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early career

Born in the city of Nara, Nara, Tsujimoto graduated from the Department of Education at Waseda University.

While still an undergraduate in 1983, Tsujimoto founded the Peace Boat with help of anti-American activists including Akira Kitagawa, a former member of the Japanese Red Army, and Makoto Oda, the Representative of Beheiren ("Betonamu ni Heiwa o Shimin Rengo" — Citizen's League for Peace in Vietnam) and a KGB agent.^[1] A grass-roots international friendship organization, the Peace Boat's first voyage was to countries that had been invaded by Japan in World War II. It has visited North Korea a number of times, and its passengers have also met Yasser Arafat several times. Although the group's main objective is to criticize the Japanese government's silence on its aggressive past, many Japanese accuse it of anti-Americanism and support for North Korea. Israel refused the Peace Boat entry into the country in 2002. Tsujimoto also worked in Osaka as a non-profit organization coordinator.

[edit] Political career

In 1994, the Japan Socialist Party (JSP) came to power under Tomiichi Murayama, in a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New Party Sakigake. However the LDP returned to power in 1996 and the JSP collapsed, with most of its members eventually leaving to join the Democratic Party of Japan. Chairwoman Doi reformed the JSP into the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and personally requested the Tsujimoto run in Osaka, and she was elected to the House of Representatives. The party was designed to be a moderate socialist party, but Tsujimoto was instrumental in pushing the party to the Left. Tsujimoto is well known as a pro-North Korean politician, and she has defended the North Korean abductions of Japanese.^[2]

Fusako Shigenobu, the leader of the Japanese Red Army (JRA), was arrested in 2000 in Takatsuki, Osaka, Tsujimoto's home district. She was arrested in the company of Mamoru Yoshida, a member of Tsujimoto's staff in Takatsuki. This, and the fact that Tjuimoto has close personal relations with Akira Kitagawa, a former member of the JRA, led to some speculation about links between Tsujimoto and the JRA itself.

[edit] Scandal, resignation, and comeback

Kiyomi Tsujimoto was one of the chief antagonists of the beleaguered Muneo Suzuki during the scandals that emerged in 2002. Suzuki was ultimately jailed for fraud.

But, as a result of internal tensions between newcomers and veterans in the SDP, a staff member of the Democratic Party of Japan who had formerly worked for the SDP revealed that Tsujimoto had used her secretary's government salary to cover campaign expenses. Tsujimoto admitted to the fraud, resigned her seat in the Diet, and was given a suspended sentence.

Her political career was not over. She ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the House of Councillors in the 11 July 2004 elections, but won a proportional representation seat for the House of Representatives in the 11 September 2005 elections that also returned Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to power.

Suzuki's political fate has run parallel to Tsujimoto's. He also ran unsuccessfully in 2004 for a seat in the House of Councillors but was subsequently elected to the House of Representatives in 2005.

On 1 October 2005, after her comeback as a member of the House of Representatives, Tsujimoto announced that she has no intention to protect the lives and property of the Japanese people, and that she wants to destroy the structure of the state.^[3]