is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. She was a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) representing Hokkaido through the Hokkaido PR block.

Biography

Ikeda was born in

Itabashi is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. In English, it calls itself Itabashi City. Itabashi has sister-city relations with Burlington, Ontario, in Canada; Shijingshan District of Beijing in the People's Republic of China; and ...

, Tokyo in 1972. Her childhood was marred by

abuse Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

from her father, which led her family to disintegrate by the time she was in middle school. Ikeda studied up to second year of high school before dropping out as she was unable to pay for her tuition. In 1995, she trained as a caregiver and then worked at the Itabashi welfare office. Later in 1997, she enrolled in a Tokyo vocational school and received a qualification in welfare. She worked in the office until 2011, when she moved to Hokkaido to head an NGO focusing on rebuilding the lives of welfare recipients and pensioners. Several years after settling in Hokkaido, she entered Hokkaido University as a mature student and took a postgraduate course in Public Policy. She graduated in March 2015. Ikeda first ran for public office in the 2014 general election. She ran as an independent candidate for the

Hokkaido 2nd district is a single-member electoral district for the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. It is located in Sapporo, the prefectural capital of Hokkaido and consists of the Higashi ("East") ward and most of the Kita ...

seat with the support of the centre-left Democratic Party of Japan, finishing in the third place. She would then become the official opposition candidate for the neighbouring

Hokkaido 5th district Hokkaidō 5th district () is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It consists of Atsubetsu ward and a portion of Shiroishi ward in Hokkaido's city of Sapporo and Ishikari Subprefecture excluding Sapporo and Is ...

seat in the 2016 by-election, but lost narrowly to the LDP candidate

Yoshiaki Wada Yoshiaki Wada (born 10 October 1971) is a Japanese politician, since 2016 member of the House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the ...

. Ikeda ran again for the seat in the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

. She narrowly lost her rematch with Wada but obtained enough votes to be returned through the CDP's PR block list. Ikeda is a single mother with two adult children.

References

External links

Official website
in Japanese. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ikeda, Maki 1972 births Living people People from Itabashi Politicians from Tokyo Politicians from Hokkaido Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan politicians Democratic Party of Japan politicians 21st-century Japanese politicians 21st-century Japanese women politicians