Chikako Asō

Chikako Asō (麻生 千賀子, also 麻生 ちか子),^[a] (born May 30, 1950), née Suzuki (鈴木 千賀子), is a Japanese businesswoman, daughter of the 44th Prime Minister of Japan, Zenkō Suzuki, wife of the 59th Prime Minister of Japan, Tarō Asō, and elder sister of the politician Shun'ichi Suzuki. Her husband is the brother of Princess Tomohito of Mikasa.

Chikako Asō
麻生 千賀子 and 麻生 ちか子
Chikako Asō, 2008
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Japan
In role September 24, 2008 – September 16, 2009
Monarch	Akihito
Prime Minister	Tarō Asō
Preceded by	Kiyoko Fukuda
Succeeded by	Miyuki Hatoyama
Personal details
Born	Chikako Suzuki (1950-05-30) May 30, 1950 (age 75) Tokyo, Japan
Party	Liberal Democratic
Spouse	Tarō Asō ​ (m. 1983)​
Children	2
Parent	Zenkō Suzuki (father)
Relatives	Shun'ichi Suzuki (brother)
Alma mater	Japan Women's University
Occupation	Businesswoman

Career

Asō is on the board of directors of Aso Cement, part of Aso Group, an Asō family-run conglomerate with divisions in mining, cement, medical care, theater, education, and the environmant.^[1][2][3][4] During World War II, Aso Mining used Koreans and prisoners of war (POWs) as slave labor under brutal conditions. After decades of seeking an apology, Asō's husband, Tarō Asō, finally admitted POWs had been used in the mines on December 18, 2008, but he refused to apologize.^[5][6][7]

Tarō was often on business in Tokyo, so Asō became the link between him and his constituency back in Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyushu Island. She spent three years learning the local dialect. She often campaigned for him in his hometown of Iizuka,^[8] where she is considered "more popular than Aso himself".^[9]

Personal life

Asō was born May 30, 1950 in Tokyo to Zenkō Suzuki and Sachi Hagiwara.^[10][11] Suzuki was serving in the House of Representatives at the time and representing Iwate Prefecture's 1st district, which is where he was from.^[12][b] He later served as Japan's Prime Minister from July 17, 1980, to November 27, 1982.^[7] Her younger brother, Shun'ichi Suzuki is a politician.^[11] She graduated from the Home Economics Faculty of Japan Women's University.^[9]

Asō met her future husband, Tarō Asō,^[10] was invited to dinner with her family by her father Zenkō Suzuki while he was Prime Minister. Tarō was impressed with Chikako because she said he did not have to eat sea cucumber since he genuinely did not like it.^[8][c] They married on November 3, 1983.^[13][14] Tarō served as Prime Minister of Japan from September 24, 2008, to September 16, 2009.^[15] Tarō is Roman Catholic and he and Chikako and met Pope Benedict XVI.^{[10][16][17][d]} Her husband is the brother of Princess Tomohito of Mikasa.^[18]

Tarō and Chikako have two children: Masahiro (麻生 将豊) (b. December 29, 1984) and Ayako (麻生 彩子) (b. April 27, 1987). Masahiro is the CEO of Aso Corporation, the holding company of Aso Group and the chairman of Junior Chamber International Japan, a youth leadership organization.^[19][20] Asō enjoys cooking and gardening, especially growing roses.^[9]

Notes

1. Asō's real name is the kanji form, 麻生 千賀子, but she uses the kana form, 麻生 ちか子, for things like signatures.
2. Asō's place of birth is also reported as Iwate Prefecture, but this seems to be a confusion as that is where her father was from and the prefecture he represented.^[12]
3. This dinner might have been a Red Cross charity dinner.
4. It is believed Chikako is also Roman Catholic.