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Mio Sugita (杉田 水脈 Sugita Mio, born April 22, 1967) is a Japanese politician. Sugita is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and incumbent member of the House of Representatives for Hyogo 6th District^[1].

Sugita graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University in 1990.^[2]

She worked as a local government employee and member of the Japan Restoration Party and the Next Generation Party before becoming a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.^[3]

In July 2016, Sugita wrote an article in the Sankei Shimbun opposing increases in the number of nurseries.^[4]

In 2013 Sugita joined fellow Japan Restoration Party members Yuzuru Nishida and Hiromu Nakamaru at the Study Group for Japan's Rebirth based in Los Angeles to request removal of a statue in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. The statue commemorates as many as 200,000 "comfort women" from Korea and other countries "forced into sex slavery by Japanese soldiers during World War II"^[5]. Statue opponents, including Sugita, said, "the women acted willingly" and that the numbers of them reported are inflated^[6][7]. The three politicians also stated that they wanted the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to rescind an apology made in the 1990s to comfort women^[6].

Sugita appeared in a 2018 BBC documentary "Japan's Secret Shame"^[8] which detailed the alleged rape of Vorlage:Ill. In the interview, Sugita was quoted as saying, "With this case, there were clear errors on her part as a woman; drinking that much in front of a man and losing her memory."^[9] She continued, "With things like this I think men are the ones who suffer significant damage.”^[10]

Sugita appeared to deride Ito, "Makura eigyo daishippai" (Pillow salesmanship: total fail)^[11].

When approached for comment about the documentary by the Mainichi Shimbun, Sugita stated the video had been edited in a way that misrepresented her intentions and she was considering releasing her own footage of the interview.^[11]

Sugita was criticized by Lully Miura, an instructor at the Policy Alternatives Research Institute at the University of Tokyo who wrote, "Behavior as if questioning the actions of the victim instead of the perpetrator will spread the misunderstanding that it cannot be helped if something happens to a woman when she gets drunk in front of a man. There seems to be a sense of dislike against women strongly speaking up to men that is embedded in Sugita's attitude."^[11]

In July 2018, Sugita wrote a magazine article that described LGBT+ couples as “unproductive and thus not worth taxpayer investment."^[12] She argued that “these men and women don’t bear children – in other words, they are ‘unproductive.’”^[13] Her controversial comments were denounced by various prominent Japanese politicians including Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and former parliamentary secretary Shunsuke Takei.^[14]

In response to these comments, on July 27, 2018, thousands of protesters gathered outside the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan to demand her resignation from the party.^[15]

Vorlage:Reflist

• Mio Sugita Official Website

1. ↑ 杉田 水脈 | 国会議員 | 議員情報 | 議員・役員情報 | 自由民主党. In: www.jimin.jp. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 (japanisch). 
2. ↑ 国会議員情報：杉田 水脈（すぎた みお）：時事ドットコム In: 時事ドットコム. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 (ja-JP). 
3. ↑ Japan Should Aim to Create an Independent Constitution, Not Reform the Present One | Apple Town. In: en.apa-appletown.com. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 (amerikanisches Englisch). 
4. ↑ SANKEI DIGITAL INC.: 【杉田水脈のなでしこリポート（８）】「保育園落ちた、日本死ね」論争は前提が間違っています　日本を貶めたい勢力の真の狙いとは… In: 産経ニュース. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 (ja-JP). 
5. ↑ Arin Mikailian: Court rules in favor of memorial to comfort women. In: latimes.com. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018. 
6. ↑ ^{a b} Brittany Levine: Japanese politicians want Glendale's 'comfort women' statue removed In: Los Angeles Times, 19. Dezember 2013. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 (amerikanisches Englisch). 
7. ↑ Mark Schreiber: U.S. towns pulled into Japanese politics In: The Japan Times Online, 25. April 2015. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 (amerikanisches Englisch). 
8. ↑ Vorlage:Citation
9. ↑ Woman received death threats after accusing Japanese celebrity of rape In: Mail Online. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 
10. ↑ Woman’s fight highlights rape taboo in Japan In: The Irish Times. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 (amerikanisches Englisch). 
11. ↑ ^{a b c} LDP lawmaker draws fire over comment on alleged rape victim in BBC documentary In: Mainichi Daily News, 7. Juli 2018. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 (englisch). 
12. ↑ 「LGBTは生産性がない」自民・杉田水脈議員の寄稿文に、当事者団体が抗議 In: BuzzFeed. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 (japanisch). 
13. ↑ Japanese politician under fire for claiming LGBT couples are 'unproductive' In: The Independent. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 (britisches Englisch). 
14. ↑ Japanese politician under fire for calling LGBT community 'unproductive' In: cnn. Abgerufen am 26. Juli 2018 (englisch). 
15. ↑ Tomohiro Osaki: Thousands rally to protest LDP lawmaker Mio Sugita’s remark calling LGBT people ‘unproductive’ In: The Japan Times Online, 27. Juli 2018 (amerikanisches Englisch).