Yukiko Sakamoto

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Yukiko Sakamoto
坂本 由紀子
Member of the House of Councillors
In office
26 July 2004 – 17 June 2009
Serving with Yuji Fujimoto
Preceded by [ja],  [ja]
Succeeded by [ja]
ConstituencyShizuoka at-large district
Parliamentary Secretary of Foreign Affairs
In office
29 August 2007 – 3 September 2007
Preceded byMidori Matsushima, Masakazu Sekiguchi, Masayoshi Hamada
Succeeded byMasakatsu Koike
Vice-Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture
In office
1996–1999
GovernorYoshinobu Ishikawa
Personal details
Born (1949-01-20) January 20, 1949 (age 72)
Political partyLiberal Democratic Party
EducationBachelor of Laws
Alma materTokyo University
OccupationMinistry of Health, Labour and Welfare bureaucrat

Yukiko Sakamoto (坂本 由紀子, Sakamoto Yukiko, born 20 January 1949) is a Japanese politician and bureaucrat from Mishima, Shizuoka. She was the first woman to be appointed vice-governor of Shizuoka Prefecture in 1996 and served one term in the House of Councillors in the National Diet from 2004 until 2009.

Early life and bureaucratic career[]

Sakamoto was born in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, and graduated from  [ja] in the neighbouring city of Numazu. She graduated from the University of Tokyo with a Bachelor of Laws.[1]

In 1972 Sakamoto joined the Ministry of Labor (now part of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), serving in the Women Labourers' section of the Women's Bureau. She later transferred to the Employment Security Bureau, where she served as head of the policy section for employment of the disabled.[1][2] In 1996 Sakamoto was seconded to the post of Vice-Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture, becoming the first woman vice-governor of the prefecture. She served in that role until 1999.[1]

Following her term as Vice-Governor, Sakamoto returned to the Ministry and served as an Assistant Secretary to the Minister until 2001, then as head of the Occupational Health and Safety Department. Sakamoto finally served as head of the Human Resources Development Bureau from 2002 until her resignation from the ministry in 2004.[1]

Political career[]

In July 2004 Sakamoto was elected to the House of Councillors as a Liberal Democratic Party candidate in the Shizuoka at-large district.[3] Sakamoto received the most votes in a five-person contest for two seats, defeating incumbent Councillors  [ja] of the LDP and  [ja] of the Democratic Party. Upon entering the Diet Sakamoto served on the House's Health, Welfare and Labour Committee[4] and later in July 2007 was appointed as a director of the House's Budget Committee.[5]

In August 2007 Sakamoto was appointed as a parliamentary secretary of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. However, immediately after her appointment an allegation concerning improper accounting of expenses was raised and led to Sakamoto resigning from the post one week after her appointment.[6] She was replaced in the position by Masakatsu Koike.[7]

In June 2009 Sakamoto resigned from the House of Councillors to contest the Shizuoka gubernatorial election the following month. Sakamoto contested the election as an independent candidate, but with the backing of the LDP and Komeito. Aware of the low popularity of the LDP's national government led by Prime Minister Tarō Asō, Sakamoto tried to distance herself from the party and ran on a campaign of the "prefecture people's party".[8] Sakamoto received 713,654 votes (38.8%), but was defeated by Democratic Party candidate Heita Kawakatsu by a margin of 15,052 votes.[9] The result was a precursor to the defeat of Aso and the LDP in the national general election held the following month.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "坂本由紀子" [Yukiko Sakamoto] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 24 February 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  2. ^ "第3章 「国連・障害者の十年」の間における各種施策の展開" [Section 3: Policy implementation during the "International Decade of Disabled Persons"] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. 1994. p. 29. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  3. ^ "選挙区開票結果 <静岡県>" [District results (Shizuoka)]. Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  4. ^ "参議院厚生労働委員会名簿" [House of Councillors Health, Welfare and Labour Committee Members List] (PDF) (in Japanese). 1 August 2004. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  5. ^ "第１６６回国会 予算委員会 第１４号" [Budget Committee - 166th National Diet] (in Japanese). 5 July 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  6. ^ Pilling, David (3 September 2007). "Abe suffers fresh resignation blow". The Financial Times. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  7. ^ "外務大臣政務官（過去の記録）" [Parliamentary Secretaries of Foreign Affairs (previous records)] (in Japanese). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan). 9 October 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  8. ^ "DPJ-backed candidate wins Shizuoka". Japan Times. 6 July 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  9. ^ "静岡県知事選挙の開票状況（確定）" [Shizuoka Gubernatorial Election Results (Final)]. 5 July 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
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