Arfiya Eri stands out in the Liberal Democratic Party, which is largely dominated by elderly men who have specific socioeconomic backgrounds and political pedigrees.

The 34-year-old is running as a candidate for the LDP in Chiba’s fifth district in the next Lower House by-elections on April 23.

A native of Kitakyushu, a city in Fukuoka Prefecture, Eri has a mixed heritage, with a Uyghur father and an Uzbek mother. She became a Japanese citizen in 1999 when she was 10 years old.