The former gravure idol and one-time political candidate Mari Takahashi has sadly died at the age of 27. Her death was announced on September 9 and reported in the Japanese media today, though she died last week on September 4. A graduate of the prestigious Keio University, Takahashi worked briefly as a gravure idol in around 2020 and also as a TV announcer and at an IT consultancy. She was also a finalist for the Miss Japan beauty contest. She was briefly the official Democratic Party for the People candidate for a seat in a Tokyo constituency in the House of Representatives of Japan ...

When the 27-year-old Mari Takahashi agreed to stand as a candidate for the Democratic Party for the People, the senior members of the party must have been pleased. Japanese politics is a staid world full of graying men in dark suits, and the presence of young blood -- especially photogenic young female blood -- is a dream come true. Takahashi is a graduate of Keio University, one of the most prestigious colleges in the country. She won the university's beauty contest in 2016 and worked as a TV announcer while still at college, followed by three years at an IT consultancy company. She also ...