Fuka Asahina

Fuka Asahina (朝比奈 富花; born January 29, 1896) is a Nichirian civil engineer serving as Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation under Shogun Masashi Miyamoto. Asahina was raised in poverty in rural Andō, where her family relied in part on foraging in the surrounding forests for food. She attended Shimonosaki University of Technology on a full scholarship, completing a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Engineering in civil engineering before entering the ministry as a junior engineer. Her work on the Shinkeisei Rail Expansion Project led to her appointment as Director of the National Infrastructure Development Bureau in January 1924 at twenty-seven. She served as Vice-Minister from May 1928 before succeeding Mitsuyo Tokuma as Minister on April 7, 1929, at thirty-three among the youngest members of the current cabinet. Her contributions to cabinet deliberations have been noted for retaining the technical specificity of a working engineer. She is married to Denji Shimada.