Yoshiko Itō

Yoshiko Itō (伊藤 よし子, Itō Yoshiko; 30 December 1905 – 24 March 1991) was a Japanese politician. She was a member of the House of Representatives for the Japan Socialist Party (two terms).

She entered politics by succeeding to the political base of her husband, Kōdō Itō, after his sudden death. Kōji Honda, who served as a member of the House of Representatives and the Aichi Prefectural Assembly, was her brother-in-law.

Career She was born as the third daughter of general store owner Naruse Yasuyoshi in Koromo Town, Nishikamo District, Aichi Prefecture (present-day Shōwa-chō 4-chōme, Toyota City). Her maiden name was Naruse. She attended Koromo First Ordinary Elementary School (now Toyota Municipal Koromo Elementary School) and then progressed to Koromo Ordinary Higher Elementary School (now Toyota Municipal Dōjiyama Elementary School), known as the "mountain school." She was familiar with magazines that supported Taishō Democracy, such as Kaizō and Kaihō. At the time there was only one bookstore in Koromo Town, and of the four copies of Kaizō distributed monthly throughout Nishikamo District, Itō subscribed to one. In her third year she took the transfer examination for Sugiyama First Higher Girls' School (now Sugiyama Jogakuen High School) and entered. After graduating in March 1922 (Taishō 11), she studied stenography at the Tsukuda Stenography School founded by Tsukuda Yojirō. She also attended the Tokyo School of Foreign Languages (old system) for one year. Deeply moved, Yoshiko donated all the money she had in her purse at the time. After returning home, she sent an anonymous donation to Kōdō using pocket money from her mother, claiming she had learned of the relief fund in Kaihō. The sender became known to Kōdō, and this became the occasion for the start of their correspondence. Under Kōdō's guidance she voraciously read works such as August Bebel's Woman and Socialism (translated by Kikue Yamakawa), Yamakawa's The Rebellion of Women, and Friedrich Engels's Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy. Yoshiko was encouraged by Taiko Hirabayashi to succeed him. Kōdō and Hirabayashi's husband, Jinji Kobori, had been comrades arrested together in the Popular Front Incident. Hirabayashi's advice was natural as a close friend, but Yoshiko was troubled and consulted Japan Socialist Party Chairman Mosaburō Suzuki. Suzuki replied, "I'll have someone like Michiko Fujiwara go to the local area and build up the atmosphere," and urged her to run. Independently of Suzuki's thinking, the Socialist Party asked Toyota Motor President Taizō Ishida to put forward a successor from the Toyota labor union. However, Ishida insisted "Yoshiko is fine," and the party moved to endorse Kazuo Ōta, secretary-general of the Nagoya Railroad labor union. (Upon Kōdō Itō's death, Toyota Motor Industrial President Taizō Ishida gave Yoshiko a large condolence gift.) When Yoshiko went to thank him, Ishida said: "The Liberal Democratic Party is doing nothing but bad things. Nishio (note: Suehiro Nishio) is the same as the left of the LDP. In the future I wanted someone like Mr. Kōdō to handle Japanese politics, but it's regrettable. As for a successor, you could do it professionally." With the support of the Toyota labor union and the National Railway Workers' Union, she was elected for the first time. She devoted herself passionately to social security issues.

In the 1960 general election the Toyota labor union recommended both Itō and Akira Mori of the All-Japan Federation of Textile Workers' Unions (endorsed by the Democratic Socialist Party), but both lost. Itō finished as runner-up.

She made a comeback in the 1963 general election. She successively served as vice-president of the National Federation of Livelihood Associations and as head of the Socialist Party's Women's Policy Department, among other positions.

In the 1967 general election, because Itō's support rate among Toyota votes was rising, conservatives raised the concern that "if this continues, Sachio Urano, whose base overlaps in local Toyota, will be in danger," and efforts were made to undermine Itō's votes. In addition, former city councilor Keitarō Yatō, head of the Socialist Party Toyota City branch, switched to supporting Kazuo Ōta. As a result, she lost by a margin of only 356 votes to fourth-place winner Shirō Nakano.

She did not run in the December 1969 general election. This was because the Socialist Party made Kazuo Ōta, whose support base was the Nagoya Railroad labor union, the party's unified candidate following the candidacy of former Toyota Motor labor union chairman Takezō Watanabe under the Democratic Socialist Party endorsement.

In the April 1971 Aichi Prefectural Assembly election she ran in the Toyota City constituency (3 seats) but finished as runner-up.

On 24 March 1991 (Heisei 3) she died of acute pneumonia at Sankurō Hospital in Toyota City. She was 85 years old.

Results in House of Representatives general elections Date Election Party Result 22 May 1958 28th Japan Socialist Party Elected 20 November 1960 29th Japan Socialist Party Defeated 21 November 1963 30th Japan Socialist Party Elected 29 January 1967 31st Japan Socialist Party Defeated