10 Facts About Marutei Tsurunen

Marutei Tsurunen is a member of the Democratic Party of Japan, where he served as Director General of the International Department.

Marutei Tsurunen served in the House of Councillors from 2001 to 2013.

In 1967, at the age of 27, Marutei Tsurunen traveled to Japan as a lay missionary of the Lutheran Church, accompanied by his first wife, who was a Finn; they later divorced.

Marutei Tsurunen first ran for city council in 1992 in Yugawaramachi and won a seat, coming in fourth place with 1,051 votes.

Marutei Tsurunen ran for a seat in the Upper House for Kanagawa without party backing in 1995.

Marutei Tsurunen received 339,484 votes, coming in fourth, losing a seat to the Socialist candidate who won 371,889 votes.

Marutei Tsurunen ran again in 1998 and took 502,712, just 8,000 short of winning a seat, telling voters "Please vote for me and send the first Japanese citizen with blue eyes to the upper house" and "Let's change Japan from an economic power into a citizen-friendly nation, where you don't need to worry about old age and pollution".

Marutei Tsurunen was directly reelected in 2007 with 242,742 votes, the 6th-highest in his party, but lost his seat in the 2013 election after garnering only 82,858 votes.

Marutei Tsurunen is married to Sachiko Tanaka, and they have two children.

Marutei Tsurunen published his autobiography Sinisilmainen samurai in 2015 via Gummerus.