Kanako Otsuji

Kanako Otsuji (born 16 December 1974) is a Japanese LGBT rights activist, former member of the House of Representatives for the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and retired karateka and taekwondoin. She is also former member of the House of Councilors, and a former member of the Osaka Prefectural Assembly. One of only seven women in the 110-member Osaka Assembly, Otsuji represented the Sakai-ku, Sakai City constituency. In May 2013, after her party member of the House resigned, Otsuji became the nation's first openly gay member of the Diet, but her term in office expired in July. She won a seat in the 2017 general election and became the first openly gay member of the House of Representatives. In 2024, Otsuji ran for the House of Representatives from Osaka's 10th district, winning in the Kinki proportional district.