Yuriko Koike is a well-known Japanese politician, was born on 15 July 1952 in Kobe to the family of a foreign trade merchant who handled oil products.

After attending the School of Sociology at Kwansei Gakuin University in 1971 and the American University in Cairo in 1972, Koike received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Cairo University in 1976. Koike currently belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party. She has also served one term in the House of Councillors. She is one of the five Vice Secretary Generals of the Diet Members' Committee of Japan Conference. Her most recent position before becoming Minister of Defense was as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for National Security Issues in the Abe Cabinet.