Yuri Fujikawa, a city assembly member in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, who has attracted media attention in Japan for her beauty, has gone global. On the Web site of Spanish newspaper 20 Minutos, she was rated the most beautiful female politician in a poll as of Friday.
The 29-year-old Fujikawa, often dubbed by Japanese media as "too beautiful to be on a city assembly," had picked up 83,959 points as of 3 p.m. Friday. The Spanish paper, which began the poll in December, has not set a deadline for the voting.
Fujikawa was followed by Luciana Leon, 30, a member of the Peruvian Congress, with 82,261 points, Italian Mara Cargagna, 33, with 58,190 points and Brazilian Manuela D'Avila, 27, with 57,842 points, according to the Web site.
Fujikawa, the only Japanese among the 65 contestants, ranked fourth Thursday but started climbing up the rankings after she and the Web site were featured on a Japanese TV show Friday morning.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, 48, was eighth with 46,656 points. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, 45, was 33rd with 20,394, while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, 61, grabbed 44th place with 16,270 points. The Spanish paper posted the photos of 65 female politicians on its Web site and asked people to award them between one and five points.
Fujikawa won her seat in April 2007.