TOKYO (TR) – Remarks about foreigners made in a speech final week by Tamayo Marukawa, who’s making a comeback with the Liberal Democratic Party within the upcoming House of Representatives ballot, have sparked controversy on-line.
The speech by Marukawa, 55, was delivered on January 27, the day the election was introduced. Marukawa served three phrases as a member of the House of Councillors. In 2024, she ran within the common election for the House of Representatives however was defeated.
According to the Mainichi Shimbun, which reported on Marukawa’s speech in Shibuya Ward, she mirrored on the circumstances surrounding her defeat and the aftermath, citing an instance of one thing she “hadn’t realized if she had stayed in Nagatacho.”
She mentioned, “The number of foreigners in this city is increasing. I feel anxiety and confusion about them coming into the area where we live.”
Marukawa, the previous Olympic Minister, is working in Tokyo’s seventh district within the House of Representatives election on February 8.
The election is her return. In 2024, Marukawa was reprimanded over a celebration faction slush fund scandal. Her tearful apology garnered a lot consideration, however the headwinds have been too sturdy and she or he suffered a crushing defeat within the common election. Since proportional illustration seats weren’t permitted to be overlapped, she was compelled to retire.
Marukawa’s feedback weren’t met favorably in some circles. Freelance author Sunaetsu Takeda posted on his X account on January 28 about Marukawa’s feedback, “These are the words of people who say they ‘draw a line between themselves and xenophobia.’ There is danger in using the phrase ‘area of living.’”
Photojournalist Natsuki Yasuda identified, “There is no end to the number of candidates who use the ‘foreigner issue’ to ignore their own problems.”