Sayuri Uenishi (上西小百合) (born April 30, 1983) is a Japanese politician and

tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable stars in America were described as " ...

. She served two terms in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

before being expelled from her party for skipping a

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

session, then getting caught in a couple of scandals.

Early life and education

Uenishi was born in

Habikino, Osaka 270px, Habikino city office is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 109,479 in 50918 households and a population density of 4100 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is know ...

on April 30, 1983. She studied at Kobe College. After graduation she worked for a few years for an

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

company and a beauty company before she became interested in politics in 2012.

Career

Uenishi was elected to the House of Representatives during the 2012 Japanese general election. She represented the 4th district of Osaka, and was a member of the

Japan Restoration Party The , also referred to in English as the Japan Restoration Association, was a Japanese political party. It was launched on 12 September 2012 and gained official recognition on 28 September 2012. The party grew from the regional Osaka Restoration ...

. She then became a member of the

Japan Innovation Party The was a political party in Japan. It was launched on 22 September 2014, following the merger of the Japan Restoration Party headed by Tōru Hashimoto, and the Unity Party, led by Kenji Eda. On 27 March 2016 the party merged with the Democra ...

when the Japan Restoration party merged with them in 2015. In 2015 Uenishi missed a session during which the Diet voted on the national budget. She said that she was ill, but went out to an

izakaya An () is a type of informal Japanese bar that serves alcoholic drinks and snacks. are casual places for after-work drinking, similar to a pub, a Spanish tapas bar, or an American saloon or tavern. Etymology The word entered the English l ...

with another lawmaker that night.

Toru Hashimoto TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Toru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Est ...

, one of the leaders of the Japan Innovation Party, expelled her after speaking with her about the matter. A few months later she was caught giving 800,000 yen in campaign funds to her father, who also served as her private secretary. In August 2015 she released an autobiography that included photographs of herself in suggestive poses. Uenishi tweeted a rude message at the

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

soccer team for losing a match in 2017. Urawa fans then responded to her, starting a Twitter argument that culminated in death threats being sent to her office. At a

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

on September 24, 2017 she announced that she would not run for office during the next election. In 2018 she decided to become a tarento, and was hired by a production company. She appeared on ''

Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! was a popular Japanese variety show, shown on Fuji TV. The first episode aired on 16 October 1996 and the last episode aired on 31 March 2018. The hosts of the show were the owarai duo Ninety-Nine ( Takashi Okamura and Hiroyuki Yabe). The sho ...

'' and '' London Hearts.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uenishi, Sayuri 1983 births Living people People from Habikino Politicians from Osaka Prefecture Japanese politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) Female members of the House of Representatives (Japan)