Tomoko Tamura
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (December 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Tomoko Tamura | |
|---|---|
| 田村 智子 | |
_(cropped).jpg) Tamura in 2024 | |
| Chairwoman of the Japanese Communist Party | |
| Assumed office 18 January 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Kazuo Shii |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 27 October 2024 | |
| Constituency | Tokyo PR block |
| Member of the House of Councillors | |
| In office 12 July 2010 – 15 October 2024 | |
| Constituency | National PR |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 4, 1965 Komoro, Nagano, Japan |
| Political party | Japanese Communist Party (since 1985) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Waseda University |
Tomoko Tamura (Japanese: 田村 智子, born 4 July 1965) is a Japanese politician who is the current chairwoman of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP). She was a member of the House of Councillors from 2010 to 2024.
Early life
[edit]Tamura was born on July 4, 1965, in Komoro, Nagano Prefecture, to parents who owned a stationery shop.[1][2] While attending Waseda University, after a series of protests and strikes against an increase in tuition, she joined the Democratic Youth League of Japan, the youth wing of the Japanese Communist Party.[3]
Political career
[edit]After she graduated, she took full time employment with the Democratic Youth League of Japan, organizing anti-war protests and pro-peace rallies.[4] From 1995, she had switched to the main Japanese Communist Party and worked as the secretary and deputy secretary respectively for House of Representative members Ikuko Ishii and Miyo Inoue. She ran unsuccessfully for the House of Councilors in 1998, 2001, and 2007, and for the House of Representatives in 2005.[5]
Tenure
[edit]Tamura was first elected to the House of Councilors in the 2010 election, for the National party list block, and was subsequently reelected in 2016 and 2022.[6][7] Before becoming the party's leader, she served as the vice chair of the executive committee and the chair of the policy committee.[8] She criticized former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's female cabinet picks, saying that they were performative instead of advancing women's empowerment.[9] She also criticized Abe over his involvement in the cherry blossom scandal.[10]
Chairman
[edit]On January 18, 2024, she replaced Kazuo Shii as chair of the Japan Communist Party. She became the party's first female chair in history.[11][12] Tamura was selected to replace Shii after he was caught in a scandal after expelling two members of the Japanese Communist Party who had called for the democratic election of the party's leadership by party members. Tamura's selection has been viewed by some as an attempt to repair the Communist Party's image in this scandal's wake.[13]
Tamura stood for the October 2024 House of Representatives election as the top candidate on the Communist Party list for the Tokyo proportional representation block. She thus automatically lost her seat in the House of Councillors when the election was officially announced.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "日本共産党 参議院議員 田村智子 ｜ 文房具店の娘" (in Japanese).
- ^ "文房具屋の娘". 2001.
- ^ "早稲田大学で学費値上げ反対のストライキを体験". 2014.
- ^ "民青同盟の専従として活動". 2014.
- ^ "Tomoko Tamura Profile". 2001.
- ^ "Ms. TAMURA Tomoko".
- ^ "Tomoko Tamura Profile". 2001.
- ^ "Shii steps down as Communist Party head after 23 years". 18 January 2024.
- ^ "Women Abe Selected for his New Cabinet is "Performance for Public Consumption"". 22 September 2014.
- ^ "Japanese Communist Party appoints first female leader". NHK. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ "共産党の新委員長に田村智子氏、23年ぶり交代 志位氏は議長に就任". The Asahi Shimbun. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ "共産党委員長に田村智子氏 23年ぶり交代、志位氏は議長". The Nikkei. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ "JCP needs more than leadership change to gain public support". 19 January 2024.
- ^ "参院議員７人、自動失職 衆院選くら替え出馬で【２４衆院選】". Jiji.com (in Japanese). Jiji Press. 15 October 2024. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
 | This article about a Japanese politician born in the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |