is a Japanese

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

of the Kokumin Ikari no Koe who served in 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, or ...

from 1993 to 2010. Madoka was born in

Yokosuka, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

and grew up in

Yao, Osaka is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 263,436 in 126509 households and a population density of 6300 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is the birthplace of the Kawachi on ...

and

Takamatsu, Kagawa 270px, Takamatsu City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Takamatsu city center 270px, View from Yashima to Takashima port is a city located in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 414,134 in 190120 households and a popu ...

. She graduated from

Tsuda College is a private women's university based at Kodaira, Tokyo. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious higher educational institutions for women in Japan, contributing to the advancement of women in society for more than a century. History The u ...

in 1969, and worked in the editorial department of the English-language newspaper ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

'' and as a freelance journalist and author, particularly focusing on women and family issues. Her efforts also made her prominent as a television commentator. She ran unsuccessfully in the 1992 House of Councillors election as a proportional representation candidate from the

Japan New Party The was a Japanese political party that existed briefly from 1992 to 1994. The party, considered liberal, was founded by Morihiro Hosokawa, a former Diet member and Kumamoto Prefecture governor, who left the Liberal Democratic Party to protest ...

. After three members resigned from the House to run in the 1993 general election, Madoka was elected to fill one of the open seats (that of

Yuriko Koike is a Japanese politician who currently serves as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. She graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1976 and was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan from 1993 until 2016, when she resigned to ...

). She subsequently stayed alongside JNP head

Morihiro Hosokawa is a Japanese politician and noble who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994, leading a coalition government which was the first non- Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government of Japan since 1955. After a funding scandal in early 1994, h ...

as part of the "

From Five was a Japanese political party that existed from December 1997 to January 1998. It was formed by former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa and four other legislators ( Yoriko Madoka, Shinji Tarutoko, Kiyoshi Ueda and Takenori Emoto) who left the ...

" group with Shinji Tarutoko,

Kiyoshi Ueda is a Japanese politician currently serving as a member of the House of Councillors for the Saitama at-large district after winning a by-election in 2019. He has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, signaling his opposition to any and all tax ...

and Takenori Emoto, moving alongside them to the

Good Governance Party The was a Japanese political party which was in existence for a short period in early 1998. It was a centrist, reformist party that merged with other parties in April 1998 to form the Democratic Party of Japan. There was an earlier pre-war ''Min ...

and finally the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to centre-left liberal or social-liberal political party in Japan from 1998 to 2016. The party's origins lie in the previous Democratic ...

in 1998. Madoka was elected as a DPJ candidate in the 1998 election and 2004 election, but lost her seat in the 2010 election. In 1999, she became the first member of the House of Councillors to give a speech longer than three hours when she spoke against the enactment of a telecommunications interception statute. After leaving the House of Councillors, she unsuccessfully ran in the 2012 general election for the

Tokyo 8th district Tokyo 8th district (東京都第8区, ''Tōkyō-to dai-hachiku'' or simply 東京8区, ''Tōkyō-hachiku'') is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan. It is located in western part of former Tok ...

seat 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 ...

, losing to

Nobuteru Ishihara is a Japanese politician who was Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2010 to 2012. He was born in Zushi, Kanagawa, the son of author and former Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara. He attended Keio Gijuku High School and gradu ...

and second-ranked

Tarō Yamamoto is a Japanese politician and former actor, who is the founder and current leader of the anti-establishment political party Reiwa Shinsengumi. Yamamoto served as a member of the House of Councillors from 2013 to 2019 and was a candidate in the 2 ...

. She was also a proportional representation candidate in the 2013 House of Councillors election but was ranked fifteenth out of twenty DPJ candidates and failed to win one of the seven PR seats won by the party. She served as a policy advisor to

during the

2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election The 2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election took place on February 9, 2014 to replace outgoing Governor Naoki Inose, who resigned effective December 24, 2013. Yōichi Masuzoe was declared the winner in exit polling, with a substantial lead over the fift ...

. In 2016, she unsuccessfully ran once again for a National PR block seat in the House of Councillors as a member of the Angry Voice of the Citizens party.

References

External links

* in Japanese Female members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) People from Yokosuka, Kanagawa 1947 births Living people Democratic Party of Japan politicians Tsuda University alumni {{Japan-politician-1940s-stub