Aya Kamikawa

Aya Kamikawa (上川 あや, Kamikawa Aya, born January 25, 1968)[1] is a Tokyo municipal official. With her election in April 2003 she became the first openly transgender person to seek or win elected office in Japan.[2]

Aya Kamikawa
上川 あや
Kamikawa in 2007
Born (1968-01-25) January 25, 1968
Tokyo, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Alma materHosei University
OccupationPolitician

Career

Kamikawa graduated from Hosei University.[3]

In 2003 Kamikawa, then a 35-year-old writer, submitted her election application papers with a blank space for "sex".[4] She won a four-year term as an independent under huge media attention, placing sixth of 72 candidates running for 52 seats in the Setagaya ward assembly, the most populous district in Tokyo.[2][5] Despite an announcement that the government would continue to consider her male officially, she stated that she would work as a woman.[2] Her platform was to improve rights for women, children, the elderly, the handicapped, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.[3]

She was the only openly transgender official in Japan until the 2017 election of Tomoya Hosoda.[6]

Bibliography
  • The Courage to Change (変えてゆく勇気 :「性同一性障害」の私から, Kaete yuku yūki: "sei dōitsusei shōgai" no watakushi kara), Inawami Shoten, 2007, ISBN 9784004310648

See also

References
  1. Aya Kamikawa's Profile
  2. "Bribery trial no impediment in man's assembly seat quest". The Japan Times. April 29, 2003. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  3. 多様性を尊重することは類別することではなく一人ひとりのなかにある多様なものに気づくこと (in Japanese). Hosei University. Retrieved September 25, 2018 – via Yomiuri Shimbun.
  4. "Setagaya OKs transsexual's election bid". The Japan Times. April 21, 2003. Retrieved September 25, 2018..
  5. "Transsexual stands proud in a land of conformity". Sydney Morning Herald. May 3, 2003. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  6. Farand, Chloe (March 18, 2017). "Japan becomes first country in the world to elect a transgender man to a public office". The Independent. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
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