is a Japanese politician who served as

President of the House of Councillors The is the presiding officer of the House of Councillors, the upper house of Japan, and together with the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Japan), Speaker of the House of Representatives, the president is also the head of the Governme ...

from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, she was previously the vice president of the House of Councillors from 2007 to 2010.

Background and career

Akiko Santō was born in Setagaya, Tokyo, on 11 May 1942. She was the grandniece of Kodama Ryōtarō (1872 – 1921), who served in the House of Representatives during the

Taishō era The was a period in the history of Japan dating from 30 July 1912 to 25 December 1926, coinciding with the reign of Emperor Taishō. The new emperor was a sickly man, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group ...

. On the recommendation of the composer Ikuma Dan, a friend of her mother, Santo became the host of a

TBS Radio TBS Radio, Inc. () is a radio station in Tokyo, Japan, the flagship radio station of the Japan Radio Network (JRN). The company was founded by the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS, presently named TBS Holdings, Inc.) on March 21, 2000. TBS Radio ...

children's program at the age of eleven. She graduated from

Bunka Gakuin is a Japanese vocational school. It opened in 1921 as the first co-educational school in Japan. Alumni * Hisae Imai * Takako Irie * Liu Chi-hsiang * Yoko Mizuki * Akiko Santo * Akira Terao *Mitsu Yashima * Guan Zilan, Chinese painter Referen ...

in 1961. Santo was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 1974 after working as an actress and reporter. She was parliamentary vice-minister of environment (Ohira cabinet), and minister of state and director general of the Science and Technology Agency (Kaifu cabinet, 1990–91). She became vice president of the House of Councillors in 2007, and chaired the joint plenary meeting of party members of both houses of the Diet. After the 2019 election, Santo was elected President of the House of Councillors. She stepped down after the 2022 election.

The Senkaku episode

Santo played a role in the sale of three of the

Senkaku Islands The Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Tiaoyutai Islands in Taiwan, are a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, administered by Japan. They were historically known in the Western world as the Pinnacle ...

. She had known the landowner (Kurihara family) for 30 years, and in 2011 he told her that he wanted to sell to the governor of Tokyo,

Shintaro Ishihara was a Japanese politician and writer, who served as the Governor of Tokyo Metropolis, Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the Far-right politics, radical right Sunrise Party, later merged with Toru Hashimoto's Japan ...

(whose nationalistic book he liked), instead of to the government and the prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda. The latter proposed a land swap, the former cash, and eventually the state bought the land for $25.5 million in 2012.
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santo, Akiko Government ministers of Japan Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Women government ministers of Japan Women members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Japanese actresses Japanese actor-politicians Members of Nippon Kaigi Living people 1942 births Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Presidents of the House of Councillors (Japan)