Arfiya Eri, whose mother is Uzbek, reappointed to a government post in Japan

Arfiya Eri, a Japanese politician of Uzbek and Uyghur descent, has been reappointed as Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs in the new composition of Japan’s government. The information was published on the official website of the Prime Minister.

She was first appointed as Parliamentary Vice-Minister on November 13, 2024, and reconfirmed to the same position in October this year under the new government.

According to open sources, Arfiya Eri was born on October 16, 1988, in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. Her father is Uyghur and her mother is Uzbek. She represents the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.

Eri graduated from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and the Graduate School of Foreign Service in Washington. She speaks English, Chinese, Uzbek, Turkish, and Uyghur fluently, and has a basic knowledge of Arabic.

Before entering politics, she worked at the Bank of Japan and the United Nations. In April 2023, she was elected as a member of Japan’s House of Representatives in a by-election from Chiba Prefecture’s 5th district.

It is worth noting that in 2023, Orzugul Bobokhujaeva, originally from Uzbekistan, was elected to the Setagaya Ward Assembly in Tokyo. Her candidacy was nominated by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and she won with 6,771 votes in the final stage of the election.