Harumi Takahashi

Harumi Takahashi (Japanese高橋 はるみ, Harumi Takahashi, born January 6, 1954 in Toyama ) is a Japanese non-party politician and since 2003, Governor of Hokkaido.

Takahashi is the daughter of Nitta Shichiro, president of Nihonkai gas and founder of INTEC. She graduated in 1976 her studies at the Faculty of Economics, Hitotsubashi University. After that, she was a civil servant in the MITI. From 1985 she worked at the Atlantic Institute in Paris. In 2000, she returned for the SME Agency of the MITI in Japan, starting in January 2001, it launched the branch Hokkaidō MITI ( from 6 January METI) in Sapporo, a year later she was then director of the Research Institute of the Ministry (Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, RIETI ).

Takahashi's candidacy in the gubernatorial election in Hokkaido on 13 April 2003, supported by the government parties LDP, Kōmeitō and New Conservative Party. In a broad field of nine candidates she was chosen ( 29.29 %) and around 60,000 votes ahead of Yoshio Hachiro with 798 317 votes, which enjoyed the support of the three main opposition parties. She was re-elected with a clear majority in 2007 and 2011.

Ahead of the G8 summit in 2008 Tōyako Takahashi expressed as Governor of the Prefecture hosts the hope that the visit of the Russian president could contribute to a solution of Kurilenkonflikts.