Tribunnews.com Correspondent Report, Richard Susilo from Japan
TRIBUNNEWS.COM, TOKYO – Harue Kitamura, who served as mayor of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, died Sunday morning (13/2/2022) at the age of 93. Harue Kitamura died of aspiration pneumonia.
Harue Kitamura was Hyogo Prefecture mayor of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture for three terms and 12 years.
She is listed as the first female mayor in Japan.
After becoming a lawyer in 1959, Kitamura from Kyoto City was elected Japan’s first female mayor in the 1991 Ashiya City mayoral election, and served as mayor for three terms and twelve years.
During the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake that occurred in 1995, immediately after the earthquake, Harue Kitamura took the lead temporarily staying at the town hall and made efforts to restore and rebuild the city.
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In 2004, after retiring from mayoralty, she was awarded a government medal of the Order of the Rising Sun, in recognition of her success in paving the way for women to play an active role as leaders of local government.
According to Ashiya City, Kitamura fainted last year due to a cerebral infarction and was ill.
Harue Kitamura died at a hospital in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, Sunday (13/3/2022) morning from aspiration pneumonia.
“I really have great respect for his accomplishments. He was amazing and pray for his peaceful spirit,” said Mayor Mai Ito of Ashiya City.
Meanwhile scholarships (to Japan), free study at Japanese language schools in Japan, as well as efforts to learn Japanese more effectively through the Zoom application continue to be carried out for Indonesian citizens actively with the target of studying at school in Japan.
For complete information, please email: [email protected] with the subject: Learn Japanese.
