Yuriko Koike

Ms. Yuriko Koike is currently the Governor of Tokyo and previously served as a member of the House of Representatives in the National Diet of Japan. As Japan’s Minister of the Environment from 2003 to 2006 she was successful in campaign to change people’s attitudes toward climate change and to promote the development of technologies in order to tackle global warming. Ms. Koike was also Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for National Security from 2006 and became Japan’s first female Defense Minister in July 2007.

In 2008 she was a candidate in the election for Leader of Japan’s ruling party. If successful, she would have become Japan’s first female candidate to Prime Minister. Koike began her career as a TV presenter. She graduated from Cairo University, Egypt. She has written books and magazine articles on Japanese politics, international affairs and career women’s networking. In the current legislature of the House of Representatives, Ms. Koike was elected President of GLOBE Japan, one of the most established and oldest chapters in the GLOBE International network.