Akiko Santo

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Akiko Santo(山東 昭子,Santō Akiko, born May 11, 1942) is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature).

Japan Constitutional monarchy in East Asia

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south.

A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking office in government. In democratic countries, politicians seek elective positions within a government through elections or, at times, temporary appointment to replace politicians who have died, resigned or have been otherwise removed from office. In non-democratic countries, they employ other means of reaching power through appointment, bribery, revolutions and war. Some politicians are experienced in the art or science of government. Politicians propose, support and create laws or policies that govern the land and, by extension, its people. Broadly speaking, a "politician" can be anyone who seeks to achieve political power in any bureaucratic institution.

Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) Japanese political party

The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, frequently abbreviated to LDP or Jimintō (自民党), is a conservative political party in Japan.

Contents

Background and career

A native of Tokyo and graduate of Bunka Gakuin, Santo is the grand-niece of Kodama Ryotaro (September 1872 - October 25, 1921), a member of the House of Representatives. [1]

Tokyo Metropolis in Kantō

Tokyo, officially Tokyo Metropolis, one of the 47 prefectures of Japan, has served as the Japanese capital since 1869. As of 2014, the Greater Tokyo Area ranked as the most populous metropolitan area in the world. The urban area houses the seat of the Emperor of Japan, of the Japanese government and of the National Diet. Tokyo forms part of the Kantō region on the southeastern side of Japan's main island, Honshu, and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Tokyo was formerly named Edo when Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters in 1603. It became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from Kyoto in 1868; at that time Edo was renamed Tokyo. Tokyo Metropolis formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture and the city of Tokyo. Tokyo is often referred to as a city but is officially known and governed as a "metropolitan prefecture", which differs from and combines elements of a city and a prefecture, a characteristic unique to Tokyo.

Bunka Gakuin (文化学院) is a Japanese vocational school. It opened in 1921 as the first co-educational school in Japan.

Santo was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 1974 after working as an actress and reporter. Santo was Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Environment (Ohira Cabinet), and State Minister and Director General of Science and Technology Agency (Kaifu Cabinet, 1990–91). She became Vice President of the House of Councillors in 2007, and chaired the Joint Plenary Meeting of Party Members of Both Houses of the Diet. [2]

The Senkaku episode

Santo played a role in the sale of 3 of the Senkaku Islands. She'd known the landowner (Kurihara family) for 30 years, and in 2011 he told her that he wanted to sell to Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara (whose nationalistic book he liked), instead of to the Government and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. The later proposed land swap, the former cash, and eventually the state bought the land for $25.5 million in 2012. [3] [4]

Senkaku Islands group of islands in East Asia

The Senkaku Islands are a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. They are located roughly due east of Mainland China, northeast of Taiwan, west of Okinawa Island, and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands. They are also known as the Diaoyu Islands in Mainland China, the Diaoyutai Islands in Taiwan, and the Pinnacle Islands.

Shintaro Ishihara Japanese politician and author

Shintaro Ishihara is a Japanese politician and author who was Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of right-leaning Japan Restoration Party, Ishihara is one of the most prominent conservative right-wing politicians in modern Japanese politics.

Yoshihiko Noda The 95th Prime Minister of Japan

Yoshihiko Noda is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 2011 to 2012. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet. He was named to succeed Naoto Kan as a result of a runoff vote against Banri Kaieda in his party, and was formally appointed by the Emperor on 2 September 2011.

Like Ishihara, Santo is affiliated to the openly revisionist lobby Nippon Kaigi, which claims Japan's ownership of these islands, [5] that are also claimed by China (as Diaoyu).

The Nippon Kaigi is a Japanese ultranationalist unincorporated association that was established in 1997 and has approximately 38,000 members. The group is influential in the legislative and executive branches of the Japanese government through its affiliates. Shinzō Abe, LDP politician, serves as a special advisor to the group's parliamentary league.

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References

  1. ↑ Official Gazette No. 2773, October 28, 1921
  2. ↑ Profile on the LDP website: jimin.jp/english/profile/members/114750.html
  3. ↑ "INSIGHT: Main battle over Senkaku isles waged between Ishihara, Noda Archived 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine ." - Asahi Shimbun - Sep 3, 2012
  4. ↑ "How debts and double-dealing sparked Japan-China islets row" - Reuters - Nov 11, 2012
  5. ↑ Nippon Kaigi website

JANJAN, short for Japan Alternative News for Justices and New Cultures, was a Japanese online newspaper started by Ken Takeuchi, journalist and former mayor of Kamakura, Kanagawa. Launched in February 2003, the newspaper is credited for pioneering citizen journalism in Japan. After registration, anyone was free to post comments on the JANJAN website. However, there were different windows for registering depending on the nationality or ethnicity of the potential poster.

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