Yūko Obuchi

Yuko Obuchi (小渕 優子, Obuchi Yūko) was born on December 11, 1973, in Tokyo, Japan. She is a politician affiliated with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and has served as a member of the House of Representatives. Obuchi is the second daughter of Keizo Obuchi, who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1998 to 2000.

Obuchi graduated from Seijo University. In 1996, she joined Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) as a broadcaster. She began assisting her father in his political activities in 1999. Following the death of her father during his term, she was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2000 general election, winning his seat.

Obuchi's political career includes several notable appointments. On September 24, 2008, she was appointed Minister of State for Social Affairs and Gender Equality in Prime Minister Tarō Asō's cabinet. This appointment made her Japan's youngest cabinet member in the post-war era at that time.

During Shinzō Abe's tenure as Prime Minister, Obuchi was appointed Vice Minister of Finance in December 2012. On September 3, 2014, she was promoted to Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. In this role, she was responsible, in part, for the nuclear industry and was involved in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster cleanup efforts. Her position was seen as a potentially significant stepping stone toward becoming a candidate for Prime Minister.

Obuchi resigned from her ministerial post on October 19, 2014, amid allegations of misuse of political contributions. Her resignation was considered a setback for the Abe administration. An investigation conducted in October 2015 concluded that she bore no legal responsibility for the scandal, as the false accounting entries had been made by her aides without her knowledge.

In her personal life, Obuchi is married to Kazuaki Setoguchi, who joined TBS at the same time as her in 1996. The couple married in December 2004 after dating for several years. They have two sons.

References and external links to her official website are available, with the site primarily in Japanese.