The former Japanese ambassador to the U.N. Conference on Disarmament, Kuniko Inoguchi, said Tuesday she has agreed to run in the upcoming general election on the Liberal Democratic Party's ticket.
Inoguchi, a political science professor at Tokyo's Sophia University, made the decision after meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi earlier in the day.
It has not been decided in which single-seat district she will run in the Sept. 11 election, political sources said, adding she will also be listed as a candidate for a proportional representation block, where ballots are cast for parties.
Inoguchi served as disarmament ambassador in Geneva for two years from April 2002, becoming the first academic in 40 years to be named to a Japanese ambassadorial post.
She has held other positions in the government, including serving on the Defense Policy Review Council. She graduated from Sophia University in 1975.
Meanwhile, Satsuki Katayama, a 46-year-old former Finance Ministry bureaucrat also tapped by Koizumi to run in the election, announced she would represent the LDP in the Shizuoka No. 7 district.
Katayama, who quit the ministry Monday, will compete against Minoru Kiuchi, who voted against Koizumi's postal bills in the Lower House. Kiuchi is seeking re-election as an independent.
