Mizuho Fukushima

Mizuho Fukushima
Mizuho Fukushima campaigning in Shinjuku, Tokyo, June 24, 2010
Chair of the Social Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
2003
Preceded by Takako Doi
Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for Consumers and Food safety
In office
September 16, 2009 – May 28, 2010
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
Preceded by Position Established
Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for Low birth rate
In office
September 16, 2009 – May 28, 2010
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
Preceded by Position Established
Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for Sex Equality
In office
September 16, 2009 – May 28, 2010
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
Preceded by Position Established
Personal details
Born 24 December 1955 (1955-12-24) (age 56)
Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan
Political party Social Democratic Party
Occupation lawyer[1]

Mizuho Fukushima (福島 瑞穂 Fukushima Mizuho?, born 24 December 1955 in Miyazaki Prefecture) is a Japanese politician. She has been a member of the House of Councillors since 1998,[2] was re-elected in 2004 and 2010,[1] and is the current chair of the Social Democratic Party of Japan, a position she has held since 2003.[3]

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 Friday May 28th, and the SDP subsequently voted to leave the ruling coalition.[4]

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.[5]

She has opposed capital punishment on the SDP website.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b [1] (Japanese)
  2. ^ House of Councillors website List of the Members
  3. ^ The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan Mizuho Fukushima, Leader, Social Democratic Party of Japan
  4. ^ BBC News Socialists leave Japan coalition over Okinawa issue
  5. ^ Ken Belson (August 19, 2011). "Two Voices Are Heard After Years of Futility". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/world/asia/20kaido.html. 
  6. ^ 社民党OfficialWeb┃声明・談話┃2009年┃死刑執行に強く抗議する（談話） (Japanese)

External links