Ayako Fuchigami

is a member of the Hokkaido Legislative Assembly, representing Sapporo's Higashi-ku ward. She is the first openly transgender person to hold a prefectural assembly position in Japan.

Life

Fuchigami was born in Ogi, Saga Prefecture, on 16 January 1975. In March 1993, she graduated from the Ogi Prefectural High School.

Fuchigami became a show dancer in 2001, and later, in 2006, she legally changed her name.

She was endorsed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan during the 2019 Hokkaido prefectural election, and won a seat, taking office officially on April 30.

During the 2023 Hokkaido prefectural election, she won with 24,986 votes, and is the incumbent representative of Higashi-ku, Sapporo. This is more than in 2019 when she gained 18,372 votes.