is a Japanese politician and member of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, ...

since 2013, representing the

Tokyo at-large district The Tokyo at-large district is a constituency of the House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors in the National Diet (national legislature of Japan). It consists of Tokyo and elects six Councillors for six-year terms every three years by si ...

. She is a member of the

Japanese Communist Party The is a left-wing to far-left political party in Japan. With approximately 270,000 members belonging to 18,000 branches, it is one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party advocates the establishment of a democr ...

. Kira was born in Kōchi, the daughter of a prefectural assemblyman. She graduated from

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

in 2005 and worked for Takara Printing Company for four years before entering politics. She first ran in the 2009 Tokyo metropolitan assembly elections as a candidate from Toshima City, but failed to win a seat. Her next appearance was in the 2013 House of Councillors election, in which she placed third within the

, becoming the first Communist party member to win an at-large district seat in twelve years. One focus of her campaign, along with that of successful JCP candidate

Saori Ikeuchi is a member of the Japanese Communist Party, serving in the House of Representatives. She is one of the representatives representing the Tokyo proportional representation block. She thinks that the government should do more to protect the rights ...

, was the unstable jobs situation faced by young people. She is a member of the House of Councillors Committee on General Affairs, Special Committee on Political Ethics and Election System, and Commission on the Constitution. Her husband Yuichiro Matsushima is a member of the Meguro City assembly in Tokyo.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kira, Yoshiko 1982 births People from Kōchi, Kōchi Living people Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Female members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Japanese Communist Party politicians Waseda University alumni