Kyōko Asanuma
Kyōko Asanuma | |
|---|---|
 Kyōko Asanuma in April 1937 | |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 1960–1963 | |
| Constituency | Tokyo 1st district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kyōko Takeda February 1, 1904 Hita, Ōita Prefecture, Empire of Japan |
| Died | March 10, 1981 (aged 77) Tokyo, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Political party | Japan Socialist Party |
| Spouse(s) | Inejirō Asanuma (m. 1928) |
| Children | Kinue Asanuma (adopted daughter) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Known for | Widow of Inejirō Asanuma; Japan–China friendship supporter |
Kyōko Asanuma (浅沼 享子 (Asanuma Kyōko); February 1, 1904 – March 10, 1981) was a Japanese politician. She served one term in the House of Representatives and was the wife of Inejirō Asanuma, who was chairman of the Japan Socialist Party.
Life
Kyōko Asanuma, born Kyōko Takeda, came into the world on February 1, 1904, in Hita, Ōita Prefecture.[1] Her father was a dentist named Tsuneichi Takeda. She finished the upper division of Hita Elementary School.
At 17 she married, but she did not like the very old-fashioned rules in her husband's family, so she divorced soon after.[2] She moved to Tokyo planning to learn dressmaking so she could earn her own living.
In Tokyo she worked in a café that many socialists visited. There she met Inejirō Asanuma. They married in the fall of 1928.[2][3]
In 1945 she joined the Japan Socialist Party and helped with the Women's Issues Research Committee.
On October 12, 1960, her husband was assassinated by Otoya Yamaguchi while giving a speech at Hibiya Public Hall.
On November 2, 1960, Otoya Yamaguchi killed himself in prison. The next day Kyōko Asanuma spoke to reporters. She said she felt pity for the 17-year-old rather than hate, but she felt strong hate for the people who had influenced him to do the crime.[4][5]
In November 1960 she ran in the general election in Tokyo's 1st district for the Japan Socialist Party and won a seat. She served from 1960 to 1963 but did not run again in 1963.
After leaving the Diet, she worked to build friendship between Japan and China. In 1964 she went to Beijing for the 15th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. In 1970 she visited China twice. In October she sent a message to a meeting remembering the 10th anniversary of her husband's death. In December she went to Beijing with her son-in-law Nakano (a journalist who wrote about pollution) and met Premier Zhou Enlai and Vice Chairman Guo Moruo.[6][7]
In 1978 she met Deng Xiaoping when he visited Japan.[8]
She wrote a memoir called Together with My Husband Inejirō Asanuma in the magazine Fujin Kōron in December 1960.[2]
Kyōko Asanuma died in Tokyo on March 10, 1981. She is buried at Tama Cemetery. She and her husband had no children of their own but adopted a daughter named Kinue, who was a distant relative of Inejirō Asanuma.[2][3]
See also
References
- ↑ "浅沼家（衆議院議員・浅沼稲次郎・浅沼享子の家系図）" [Asanuma Family (Genealogy of House of Representatives member Inejirō Asanuma and Kyōko Asanuma)]. Keibatsugaku (in Japanese). Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "浅沼享子の生涯について知りたい。" [I would like to know about the life of Kyōko Asanuma.]. Reference Cooperative Database, National Diet Library (in Japanese). Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- 1 2 鶴崎友亀 (1979). 浅沼稲次郎小伝 [Short Biography of Inejirō Asanuma] (in Japanese). たいまつ社. pp. 212. ISBN 4167209047.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|note=ignored (help) - ↑ "浅沼稲次郎・社会党委員長刺殺事件 容疑者の少年自殺 故浅沼氏夫人が記者会見" [Chairman Inejirō Asanuma of the Japan Socialist Party Assassination Case: Suspect Boy's Suicide – Widow Holds Press Conference]. AFLO Images (in Japanese). Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- ↑ "下町っ子の上の空 : 丸の内 きじ 7th". Splash Blog (in Japanese). Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- ↑ "周恩来总理、郭沫若副委员长会见浅沼稻次郎夫人浅沼享子" [Premier Zhou Enlai and Vice Chairman Guo Moruo Meet with Widow of Inejirō Asanuma, Kyōko Asanuma]. Renmin Ribao (in Chinese). Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- ↑ "周总理"逼"出了新中国第一代环保人" [Premier Zhou "Forced Out" China's First Generation of Environmentalists]. China News (in Chinese). Retrieved February 21, 2026.
- ↑ "From left, Liao Chengzhi, Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Deng Xiaoping, Vice Premier, Kyoko Asanuma, wife of the late Inejiro Asanuma, former chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, and others". AFLO Images. Retrieved February 21, 2026.