Toshiko Hamayotsu

Toshiko Hamayotsu (浜四津 敏子, Hamayotsu Toshiko, born January 6, 1945) is a Japanese politician of the New Komeito Party who served as a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet (national legislature) from 1992 to 2010.

She was born in Taipei, Taiwan (then under Japanese administration) and graduated from Keio University in 1967. She passed the bar examination on her third attempt in 1969 and was admitted to the bar in 1972.

She was elected for the first time in 1992 as a representative of Tokyo in the House of Councillors. In the 2004 election she switched to the national proportional representation slate. From January to November 1998, she served as the president of the New Komeito Party. She announced her retirement from politics at the end of 2009, which became effective following the 2010 election.[1]

In 2002, she proposed a bill to create an enhanced version of life imprisonment for serious offenses, with the ultimate goal of sparking debate about the abolition of the death penalty in Japan.[2]

She is currently co-managing partner of the law firm of Hamayotsu & Hamayotsu in Kojimachi, Tokyo. In 2011 she became an adjunct professor of law at Soka University.[3]