A special five-day Diet session following the July 21 Upper House election kicked off Thursday, marking a momentous occasion for two opposition lawmakers with severe disabilities, who entered the Diet building for the first time.
The first post-election session chose Akiko Santo of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to be the new Upper House president and Toshio Ogawa of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan as vice president.
But much of the public's attention has focused on Yasuhiko Funago, 61, and Eiko Kimura, 54, both of whom are severely disabled and were elected as members of Reiwa Shinsengumi, an anti-establishment party founded by actor-turned-politician Taro Yamamoto.