---
title: "Fuka Asahina"
nativeTitle: "朝比奈 富花"
type: "character"
nation: "nichirin"
infobox: (17 rows)
---
**Fuka Asahina** (朝比奈 富花; born January 29, 1896) is a [[nichirin|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.
