Miho Takai

Miho Takai (高井 美穂, Takai Miho), born November 30, 1971, is a Japanese politician. She served in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Democratic Party of Japan.

Miho Takai
高井 美穂
Official portrait, 2009
Mayor of Miyoshi
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 July 2021
Preceded by	Seiichi Kurokawa
Member of the Tokushima Prefectural Assembly
In office 30 April 2015 – 25 June 2021
Constituency	Miyoshi 1st
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 21 December 2005 – 16 November 2012
Preceded by	Masanori Gotō
Succeeded by	Shunichi Yamaguchi
Constituency	Shikoku PR (2005–2009) Tokushima 2nd (2009–2012)
In office 10 November 2003 – 8 August 2005
Constituency	Shikoku PR
Personal details
Born	(1971-11-30) 30 November 1971 (age 53) Mino, Miyoshi, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan
Political party	Independent (since 2015)
Other political affiliations	DPJ DP DPP
Alma mater	Waseda University

Career

Takai was born in Miyoshi District, Tokushima and graduated from Waseda University. She was elected for the first time in 2003 after previously running in 2000.

Takai lost her seat in the 2005 general election, but she regained the seat in December after Masanori Gotō's resignation.

She beat Shunichi Yamaguchi and won the Tokushima 2nd district's seat for the first time in 2009 general election, but she lost the seat in 2012 general election.

She decided to run for Tokushima Prefectural Assembly election^[1] in 2014.

In April 2015, Takai ran for the Miyoshi 1st district in the Tokushima Prefecture Assembly, as an Independent candidate endorsed by the DPJ. She won first place in the election.^[2] She was re-elected without a vote in the 2019 Tokushima Prefectural Assembly election.

On May 2, 2021, Takai resigned from the Tokushima Prefectural Assembly and announced her candidacy for Mayor of Miyoshi.^[3] Kamon Iizumi, who was the governor of Tokushima at that time and Shunichi Yamaguchi, who is the House of Representatives member of LDP and once competed with her, announced their support for her. She won and was elected the mayor of Miyoshi.^[4]