Yuriko Koike

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Yuriko Koike
小池 百合子
Official portrait, c. 2017
Governor of Tokyo
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 August 2016
Deputy	Mitsuchika Tarao Hiroshi Kajihara Kei Takechi Manabu Miyasaka
Preceded by	Yōichi Masuzoe
Minister of Defense
In office 4 July 2007 – 27 August 2007
Prime Minister	Shinzo Abe
Preceded by	Fumio Kyūma
Succeeded by	Masahiko Kōmura
Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs
In office 27 September 2004 – 26 September 2006
Prime Minister	Junichiro Koizumi
Preceded by	Toshimitsu Motegi
Succeeded by	Sanae Takaichi
Minister of the Environment
In office 22 September 2003 – 26 September 2006
Prime Minister	Junichiro Koizumi
Preceded by	Shunichi Suzuki
Succeeded by	Masatoshi Wakabayashi
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 19 July 1993 – 14 July 2016
Constituency	Hyogo 2nd (1993–1996) Hyogo 6th (1996–2003) Kinki PR (2003–2005) Tokyo 10th (2005–2009; 2012–2016) Tokyo PR (2009–2012)
Member of the House of Councillors
In office 26 July 1992 – 4 July 1993
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Masaru Wakasa
Constituency	National PR
Personal details
Born	(1952-07-15) 15 July 1952 (age 72) Ashiya, Hyōgo, Japan
Political party	Independent (2018–present)
Other political affiliations	JNP (1992–1994) NFP (1994–1997) LP (1997–2000) NCP (2000–2003) LDP (2003–2017) TFnK (2017) PoH (2017–2018)
Alma mater	Kwansei Gakuin University American University in Cairo Cairo University
Website	Official website

Yuriko Koike (小池 百合子, Koike Yuriko; born 15 July 1952) is a Japanese politician, who has served as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. Previously, she was also served as a member of the House of Councillors from 1992 to 1993, a member of the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2016, Minister of the Environment under from 2003 to 2006, and Minister of Defense in between July and August 2007.

Born and raised in Ashiya, a wealthy, small, and popular city near Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture, Koike graduated from Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt in 1976, and served as a member of the House of Representatives of Japan from 1993 until 2016, when she resigned to run for Governor of Tokyo. Previously, she also served as the Minister of the Environment under Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet from 2003 to 2006 and briefly as Minister of Defense under the first cabinet of Shinzo Abe in between July and August 2007.^[1]

Koike was elected Governor of Tokyo in 2016, becoming the metropolis' first female governor.^[2] Koike was re-elected in 2020 and 2024, winning 59.7% and 42.8% of the popular vote respectively.^[3][4]

Considered one of the most high-profile and well-known Japanese politicians,^[5] Koike has been frequently mentioned as holding Prime Ministerial ambitions.^[6] She ran in the 2008 Liberal Democratic Party leadership election, becoming the first woman to run for the leadership of a major Japanese political party, however she came in third place losing to Tarō Asō. In 2017, Koike left the LDP amid much media attention and launched two parties: the national party, Kibō no Tō (希望の党/Party of Hope) and the regional party Tomin First no Kai (都民ファーストの会/Tokyoites First Party). Kibō no Tō contested the 2017 general election with Koike as a leader, however the party underperformed expectations and mostly disappeared after merging with the Democratic Party for the People in 2018. The same year, Koike stepped down as leader of Tomin First and officially became independent. However, Koike continues to endorse and campaign for Tomin First candidates in Tokyo and the party still makes frequent use of her image and policies.

Koike has come under some scrutiny from Japanese liberals and Koreans in both Japan and Korean Peninsula for her refusal to acknowledge the occurrence of 1923 Kantō Massacre, which mainly targeted ethnic Koreans, as well as her association with groups that are often labeled anti-Korean.^[7]