is a Japanese politician who has been in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

as a member of the

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan The is a Liberalism, liberal List of political parties in Japan, political party in Japan. It is the primary centre-left politics, centre-left party in Japan, and as of 2024 is the second largest party in the National Diet behind the ruling L ...

since 2024, and from 2017 to 2021.

Early life and education

Maki Ikeda was born in

Itabashi is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. In English, it is called Itabashi City. Itabashi has sister-city relations with Burlington, Ontario, in Canada; Shijingshan District of Beijing in the People's Republic of China; and Bolog ...

, Japan, on 24 May 1972. She suffered abuse from her father before starting kindergarten. In junior high school she went to live with her grandmother after her mother and younger sister left the family due to her father's abuse. She graduated from

Hokkaido University , or , is a public research university in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Founded in 1918, it is the fifth-oldest government-authorised university in Japan and one of the former Imperial Universities. The university finds its roots in Sapporo A ...

in 2015.

Career

From 1997 to 2011, Ikeda worked at the Welfare Office in Itabashi. In 2011, she moved from Tokyo to Hokkaido. In the 2014 election Ikeda ran as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate in

Hokkaido 2nd district is a single-member electoral district for the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. It is located in Sapporo, the prefectural capital of Hokkaido and consists of the Higashi ("East") ward and most of the Kit ...

, but lost. She ran in Hokkaido 5th district for a 2016 by-election, but lost to

Yoshiaki Wada Yoshiaki Wada (born 10 October 1971) is a former Japanese politician. From 2016 to 2024 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Hokkaido 5th district. He is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from a ...

. She ran for the seat again in the 2017 election as a

candidate and received fewer votes than Wada, but obtained enough votes to be returned through the CDP's PR block list. Ikeda lost reelection in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, but was elected in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. Ikeda was an independent candidate in the 2023 Hokkaido gubernatorial election, but lost.

Personal life

Ikeda married at age 18 and had two children before her husband abandoned her due to his large amount of debt. She is a single mother of two children.

Political positions

Ikeda supports recognising same-sex marriage and allowing couples to retain their maiden name after marriage. She believes that the prime minister should not visit the

Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Empire of Japan, Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, First Sino-Japane ...

. She supports adhering to the

Three Non-Nuclear Principles Japan's are a parliamentary resolution (never adopted into law) that have guided Japanese nuclear policy since their inception in the late 1960s, and reflect general public sentiment and national policy since the end of World War II. The tene ...

and does not support expanding Japan's military.

References

Works cited

News

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Web

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External links

Official website
in Japanese. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ikeda, Maki 1972 births Living people People from Itabashi Politicians from Tokyo Politicians from Hokkaido Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan politicians Democratic Party of Japan politicians 21st-century Japanese women politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Japan) 2017–2021