Akiko Okamoto

Akiko Okamoto (岡本章子) (married name: Yamashita (山下章子) ) (born August 16, 1964) is a Japanese politician and a member of the House of Representatives (three terms) for the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP). She has served as a member of the Sendai City Council (five terms) and as an executive officer of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Early life She was born in Iwanuma, Miyagi Prefecture on August 2, 1964. (Sources clearly state her registered political name is Okamoto.) In Japan a married couple must use the same surname; which has caused a lot of debate in recent year. The source says Yamashita is her "real name" without specifying if that is her married or maiden name.

Career She ran as a Democratic Party candidate in the Sendai City Council election (Taihaku Ward) held on April 11, 1999, and was elected for the first time. Since then, she has been elected a total of five times in a row. On September 23 of the same year, the chapter decided to endorse Okamoto. As a result, the Prefectural Committee of the Japanese Communist Party withdrew its endorsement of Okamoto.

In the October 2016 House of Representatives election, Tōru Doi of the Liberal Democratic Party was elected in the Miyagi 1st district, while Okamoto was elected for the first time through proportional representation. Ito of the Party of Hope came in third and lost.

On September 19, 2020, the Miyagi Prefectural Chapter of the new Constitutional Democratic Party, formed by the merger of the former Constitutional Democratic Party and the former Democratic Party for the People, was launched. Okamoto became its representative.

In the 49th general election for the House of Representatives on October 31, 2021, Okamoto and Doi, endorsed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), Sayaka Harutoshi, endorsed by the Japan Restoration Party (JRP), and independent candidate Yoshie Okusa ran. Although Okamoto lost to Doi in the single-seat constituency, she was re-elected to a second term through proportional representation. In the leadership election following the resignation of Representative Yukio Edano (held on November 30), she was one of the supporters of Chinami Nishimura. On December 6, the CDP decided on a new personnel change, with six of its 12 executive officers being women. Okamoto was appointed acting head of the Gender Equality Promotion Headquarters, one of the executive officer positions. She retired from her executive officer position in August 2022.

On September 30, 2024 , he was appointed Minister of Reconstruction and Fukushima Revitalization in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan 's next Cabinet.

On October 15 of the same year, the 50th general election for the House of Representatives was announced, with three candidates running: Okamoto, Doi, and Koji Takahashi, a former Kamakura City Council member endorsed by the Japan Restoration Party. The LDP faced headwinds due to scandals involving slush funds, the Unification Church, and the revelation on October 23 of a 20 million yen payment to an unofficial candidate. The general election was held on October 27. Just after the voting closed at 8 p.m., Tohoku Broadcasting Company reported that Okamoto had been certain to win. Okamoto was elected for a third term. The LDP won five seats in the proportional representation Tohoku block. Of the three seats, excluding Eto Satoshi, who came in first, and Chisato Morishita, who came in second, Taku Nemoto was elected with the third-lowest margin of defeat (75.141%), while Doi, who came in fourth (71.150%), lost his seat.

Political positions Constitution The results of surveys conducted by various media outlets regarding constitutional reform are as follows: 2017 - Responded to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper saying she was "somewhat opposed." 2021 - She responded to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper that she was "rather opposed." 2024 - NHK responded "against" the proposal. 2021, 2024 - Regarding the inclusion of the Self-Defense Forces in Article 9 of the Constitution, in NHK surveys in 2021 and 2024, she answered "against" the idea. She also responded "against" in a 2024 NHK survey. However, on May 13, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga wrote to media outlets stating that she would not conduct a reinvestigation in light of the existence of the files. Fumio Kishida, who was elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party in September, also denied the need for a reinvestigation during a representative question session at the House of Representatives plenary session on October 11. In response to a Mainichi Shimbun survey the same year asking what she thought of the government's response, she replied, "Further investigation and explanations should be conducted."

Supporting organizations The JR Soren as a candidate recommended by the organization. The Information Workers' Union and a former member of the NTT Labor Union.

Election history