Aya Kamikawa

Politician, Person

1968 –

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Who is Aya Kamikawa?

Aya Kamikawa is a Tokyo municipal official, the first transgender person to seek or win elected office in Japan. She was elected in April 2003. Kamikawa, then a 35-year-old writer, submitted her election application papers with a blank space for "sex."

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. Despite an announcement that the government would continue to consider her male officially, she stated that she would work as a woman. Her platform was to improve rights for women, children, the elderly, the handicapped, and LGBT people.

In April 2007, she was re-elected to her second term, placing second of 71 candidates running for 52 in the same ward assembly. She is the only openly transgender official in Japan at this point.

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Born
Jan 25, 1968
Taitō, Tokyo
Nationality
  • Japan
Profession

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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"Aya Kamikawa." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/aya_kamikawa>.

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