Hiroe Makiyama, Member of the House of Councillors

2026.08.12

To protect lives. Even if dreams don't come true, they can be realized in other ways.

■ Profile
Graduated from ICU and joined TBS. After leaving the company, she moved to the United States. She passed the bar exam (New York and Connecticut), and worked for Shochiku Co., Ltd. (seconded to Warner Bros. in Hollywood that same year), PolyGram Inc., and later, due to her husband's job transfer, she worked at Hassy Law Firm in New York and Sony Pictures Entertainment (Senior Manager in the Legal Department). She is currently serving her fourth term as a member of the House of Councillors (Kanagawa Prefecture constituency). She is a mother of two.

Starting from a traumatic childhood experience, Ms. Makiyama now walks the path of a politician. Before becoming a politician, she also experienced the setback of a long-held dream and worked as a lawyer in the United States. Her sincere approach to everything she does is reflected in her current title as a three-star politician. Behind her seemingly disparate and turbulent career lies the unwavering belief that guides Ms. Makiyama.

I experienced horrific bullying during my childhood. I thought I was the most unfortunate person in the world, and for a time I even refused to go to school. However, shortly after, I visited my father in another country, where I witnessed a shocking sight. In that impoverished country, I met many people who had experienced far harsher hardships than I had. In this environment, if you stole food because you had no money to survive, your limbs would be mercilessly cut off. That sight left me speechless with shock. When I returned to Japan after such experiences, the everyday life I had taken for granted looked completely different. In Japan, hot water comes out of the tap as a matter of course, the refrigerator is full of food when you open it, and the lights turn on when you press a button. I finally realized, "I'm actually quite fortunate." This experience was a major contributing factor to my later decision to pursue a career in politics.

■My longing for television and my student days spent striving to achieve my dreams

When I was in kindergarten, I dreamed of working for a television station. I loved the program "Kaoru Kanetaka's World Travels," which was airing at the time, and I strongly admired the way reporter Kanetaka introduced world cultures in an elegant yet hands-on manner. Also, since I attended an international school overseas from the third grade of elementary school, where my father lived, I wanted to bridge the gap between Japan and various countries through television. From then on, I spent my student years with the main focus being "how to get into TBS." I did almost everything I could to get into TBS. Because I had lived abroad for a long time and wasn't good at Japanese, I bought a workbook of Japanese and kanji that frequently appeared on job interviews and memorized them all. I also attended a writing cram school. It was a very strict cram school for people aspiring to work in the media, and we met twice a week and just wrote essays. Everyone who completed the course got a job at their desired company.
Also, since I had no connections in the industry, I started by auditioning for radio stations as a university student. I built up my experience during my university years by becoming a partner to DJ Katsuya Kobayashi on "English for 100 Million People," and securing regular appearances on various TV and radio programs such as NHK's English language course, Radio Tanpa, and TBS Radio. Thanks to my efforts, I was able to join TBS, which was my dream company.

■ Setbacks, and the path to becoming a politician that I found after them

Although I was able to join TBS, I was assigned to a morning talk show instead of becoming an overseas reporter as I had hoped. I tried to do the work I was given, but I couldn't give up on my dream, and in the end I left TBS. When I experienced a major setback, I decided to create a unique characteristic that no one else had, and in order to broaden my options, I obtained an American lawyer's license. There were many people who could speak English, but I wanted to combine that with a characteristic that no one else had. At the time, the first Japanese person to become an American lawyer had just been born, so I took notice, studied at law school, and passed the US bar exam. In America, many people return to their original professional fields such as doctors or police officers after obtaining their lawyer's license, and I was inspired by them as well.
Ultimately, my long-held dream of becoming an overseas reporter didn't come true, but I've always had a desire to do something for others since childhood. For example, due to my experience of being bullied as a child, I refused to go to school during my school years and neglected even my own needs. However, after witnessing extreme poverty overseas, I realized how fortunate I was and became interested in caring for others. High school, in particular, was a time when I had the capacity to think about what I could do for others. I belonged to the student volunteer program of Amnesty International, an organization that works on human rights issues, and I taught English at a school attended by blind children, and also went to places where people with illnesses could sing songs for them.
At the age of 27, I founded a volunteer organization and continued to work on initiatives such as sending vaccines to conflict zones around the world. However, while continuing to volunteer for 15 years alongside my work as a lawyer, I felt there was a limit to the number of lives that could be saved through individual efforts. That's when I saw a call for proposals in the newspaper and became convinced that "if we use the power of politics, we can deliver vaccines on a scale of, say, billions of yen," and decided to pursue a career in politics.

■Things we are focusing on

My current political motto is "Protecting lives, creating the future," and I am working on five main pillars. Among these, the one I have been advocating for most is "realizing small class sizes." In Japanese schools, the number of students per teacher is high. With 40 or 50 students in a class, it is difficult for teachers to notice small changes or cries for help from the children, no matter how hard they try. However, if classes are reduced to 15 or 20 students, teachers can be sure to keep a close eye on each student, and it will also create opportunities for dialogue with each child. If small changes and cries for help can be caught at an early stage, it will help prevent bullying, truancy, and other serious problems. In order to protect the lives of children, this reform of the educational environment is necessary.
Currently, I belong to the House of Councillors' Committee on Judicial Affairs, where I mainly work on human rights-related matters. Specifically, I have been working towards amending the "Retrial Law." However, the amendments to the law concerning the retrial system in the Diet have not resulted in sufficient improvement; in fact, the law has been passed with provisions that are even worse. Even when clear evidence of innocence emerges, it can take decades before a retrial can begin, and the injustice of acquittal being handed down at an advanced age still remains. I have come to deeply realize the difficulty of changing laws in the Diet.

■Message to university students

I want young people to go and vote. You don't have to vote for my party. However, when you do vote, it's important that you choose based on "policies." Now that the internet is so widespread, please compare information from various sources and decide who you want to vote for. I hope you will focus on "who will do what's best for your generation" and think it through carefully before casting your vote.

Student Newspaper Online, May 20, 2026 Interview: Risa Ukita, 3rd year student at Tokyo Woman's Christian University / Sho Oyama, 1st year student at Chuo University

Reina Inomoto (1st year, Kyoto University of the Arts) / Ayuri Nakatsu (2nd year, Dokkyo University) / Otsuka Masuda (2nd year, Dokkyo University) / Risa Ukita (3rd year, Tokyo Woman's Christian University) / Sho Oyama (1st year, Chuo University) / Chiharu Yamada (2nd year, University of Information Management Innovation) / Yurie Watanabe (3rd year, Josai International University)