Renhō

Renhō
蓮舫 謝蓮舫
Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2016
Monarch	Akihito
Prime Minister	Shinzō Abe
Preceded by	Katsuya Okada
President of the Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2016
Preceded by	Katsuya Okada
Member of the House of Councillors
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 July 2004
Constituency	Tokyo
Minister of State for Government Revitalization
In office 8 June 2010 – 27 June 2011
Prime Minister	Naoto Kan
Preceded by	Yukio Edano
Succeeded by	Yukio Edano
Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety
In office 14 January 2011 – 27 June 2011
Prime Minister	Naoto Kan
Preceded by	Tomiko Okazaki
Succeeded by	Goshi Hosono
Minister of State for Government Revitalization
In office 2 September 2011 – 13 January 2012
Prime Minister	Yoshihiko Noda
Preceded by	Yukio Edano
Succeeded by	Katsuya Okada
Personal details
Born	Hsieh Lien-fang (謝蓮舫) (1967-11-28) 28 November 1967 Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	Japan (1985-present) Taiwan (1967-present)
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Nobuyuki Murata
Children	Suiran and Rin (Twins)
Alma mater	Aoyama Gakuin University
Website	Renhō's homepage

Renhō Murata (村田 蓮舫, Murata Renhō, born 28 November 1967), commonly known mononymously as Renhō (蓮舫), is a Taiwanese Japanese journalist and politician who is the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan. She was a member of the Cabinet of Japan from 2010 to 2012, serving as Minister for Government Revitalisation and Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety. In September 2016 she was elected as the leader of Japan's Democratic Party, making her the first woman elected as their leader and the first person with mixed ethnic heritage and dual-citizenship to head a major political party in Japan.^[1][2]

Early and personal life

Born Hsieh Lien-fang (Chinese: 謝蓮舫; pinyin: Xiè Liánfǎng; Japanese pronunciation: Sha Renhō) in Tokyo to a Taiwanese father and Japanese mother, she studied at Aoyama Gakuin in Tokyo from kindergarten through university. She enrolled in the law faculty of Aoyama Gakuin University and graduated in 1990 with the B.L. degree in Public Law. Born as a citizen of the Republic of China (Taiwan), she did not become a citizen of Japan until 1985 when the Nationality Law was amended to allow Japanese mothers to pass Japanese nationality to their children.^[3][4] She adopted her mother's surname, Saitō (斉藤), when she acquired Japanese citizenship. To avoid name confusion in her career, she began to go simply by Renhō.

After her debut as a Clarion Girl in 1988, Renhō appeared on several television and radio programs as a commentator. In 1993, she became a newscaster on TBS and TV Asahi, covering several historical events including the Great Hanshin earthquake.^[5]

She was married in 1993 and studied the Chinese language at Peking University from 1995 to 1997. Renhō returned to television in 2000, anchoring and reporting on several TBS programs.^[5] She reported from Taiwan during Chen Shui-bian's presidential campaign, which brought her to the attention of Taiwanese political leaders.^[6] In Taiwan, she is often referred to as Lien-fang, the Standard Chinese pronunciation of her given name.

Politics

In July 2004, Renhō was elected to the House of Councillors representing Tokyo as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan. Since election, she has been heavily involved in parenting issues and policies.^[5] Renhō has criticized Japan's diplomacy with China and its refusal to recognize Taiwan, stating that "Japan is too polite when dealing with China, taking a low profile" and "Taiwan is my father's country. Why isn't Taiwan a country?"^[6]

Since taking office, Renhō has traveled to Taiwan several times on official and unofficial business, garnering extensive public and media attention. She is reportedly close to senior members of the Democratic Progressive Party.^[6]

After the DPJ assumed the reins of government in September 2009, she received much public attention for her stern stance and direct questions to bureaucrats during special fiscal screening committees of the Government Revitalization Unit established under Yukio Hatoyama.^[5][7]

In June 2010, then Prime Minister Naoto Kan appointed her as Minister for Administrative Reforms.^[8] Upon taking the post, Renhō stated that she would be giving particular attention to eliminating waste in the 21 government account.^[9] She lost her seat in Cabinet in a subsequent reshuffle, but was retained as a special advisor to the Prime Minister.

In the 2010 House of Councillors election, she garnered a record 1,710,734 constituency votes.^[10]

In September 2011, she was re-appointed as State Minister of Government Revitalization (responsible for administrative reforms) in the cabinet of then prime minister Yoshihiko Noda. Her new portfolio also included responsibility for civil service reform, gender equality and Japan's declining birthrate.

She retained her seat in the 2016 House of Councillors Election.^[11]

Family

Her husband, Nobuyuki Murata (村田 信之, Murata Nobuyuki), is a journalist and a guest lecturer at several universities. In 1997, she gave birth to twins. She has two siblings, one brother who is one year older, and one brother who is two years younger.^[12] Mark Chen, Taiwanese politician and former Secretary-General of the Office of the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), is her distant relative.^[13] She lives in Tokyo with her husband, children, and mother.^[5]

References

Renhō in 2008

External links

• Official blog (Japanese)
• Renhō on Twitter (Japanese)
• Renhō on Twitter (office) (Japanese)
• Renhō profile at DPJ site