Yuriko Koike has been the Governor of Tokyo since July 2016. In July 2020, she was re-elected to her second term of office. Prior to being elected to the post, she was active in national politics. She was a member of the House of Councillors and the House of Representatives for a total of 24 years from 1992, during which she held major posts including Minister of the Environment, Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for National Security Affairs, Minister of Defense, and Director of the Committee on Budget of the House of Representatives. As the first woman to serve as the Minister of Defense and the Governor of Tokyo, she is paving the way for women to be more active in society. With a BA in Sociology from Cairo University, she is fluent in English and Arabic, and was a prominent news anchor before entering politics.
