Haruko Arimura
Haruko Arimura is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. She is a descendant of Arimura Tsugizaemon, the ringleader of the Sakuradamon Incident, and Tōgō Heihachirō, the admiral of the Russo-Japanese War.
Arimura's views on comfort women, military prostitutes during World War II, have been criticized. Arimura supports the views of Japanologist J. Mark Ramseyer on comfort women.
Early life and education
Haruko Arimura was born in Ishikawa Prefecture and grew up in Shiga Prefecture. Her father, Kunihiro is a politician and descended from samurai of the Satsuma clan, Her grand grand father, Kunihiko was a banker. Her uncle, Kunitaka Arimura is the inventor of Integrated Circuit Card. Her brothers, Kunitoshi and Kunitomo Arimura are also politicians. Arimura family's Tūji, the distinctive kanji used in the names of all men belonging to an Arimura family, is Kuni.After graduating from Omi Brotherhood High School, she got a B.A. in social science from International Christian University in Mitaka, Tokyo and received a M.A. in Conflict Transformation from School for International Training in Vermont, United States.
She joined McDonald's Japan as a manager in 1997.
Political career
Arimura was elected for the first time in 2001. Having been elected to the House of Councillors, Arimura stopped the Ph.D. in international business programme at Aoyama Gakuin University.On 3 September 2014, she was appointed by the Abe Cabinet as Minister of State for Regulatory Reform, Minister of State for Measures to Combat Declining Birthrates, Minister of State for Gender Equality and Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety in the Cabinet Office. Arimura led the public relations department of the LDP during Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's term, and was replaced on 4 October 2021 by Taro Kono at the start of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's term.
She is affiliated to Nippon Kaigi.