Keiko Itokazu

Keiko Itokazu is a Japanese politician and member of the House of Councillors in the national legislature called the Diet. She was first elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2007 after an unsuccessful run for the governorship of the Okinawa Prefecture. She is the first member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to hold national office in Japan.

From 1992, she served in the assembly of Okinawa Prefecture for three terms.

She was born on October 11, 1947, and is a native of Yomitan, Okinawa. After graduating from high school, she worked many years as a bus-tour guide. She showed visitors around the large Okinawa Peace Park, which lies on the battleground of one of the most famous battles of World War II. She knows well the story.

The Battle of Okinawa was the last large-scale battle of World War II. Almost everything on the island was destroyed. More civilians died than military. Because of the devastation, Okinawa, like Hiroshima, has come to symbolize peace.