The outspoken mother of an HIV-infected man who became a symbol of citizens' fight for justice during the 1995-96 tainted blood scandal, is challenging established political parties in the Oct. 22 House of Representatives by-election in Tokyo's western suburbs.
Etsuko Kawada, 51, attacked the state and drug firms for negligence after tainted blood products infected her hemophiliac son, Ryuhei, 24, with HIV. And now she is calling on voters in Tokyo's No. 21 single-seat constituency of Tachikawa, Hino and Akishima to change politics through "people power."
"Five years ago, massive protests by young people rocked the Health and Welfare Ministry. Changes in public opinion can change politics, and I want to generate such opinion in the No. 21 district," Kawada said in a speech on the first day of the campaign.