curated by GRRL! updated: January 28, 2026

Bio Excerpt: Junko Mihara made history as the first woman to compete full-time in Japan’s premier GT championship, but her path to the cockpit was anything but conventional. The former pop star who’d sold over 300,000 copies of her hard-rock debut album “Sexy Night” traded microphones for racing... (full bio below ↓↓)

Junko Mihara

Sports Car racer

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Junko's Details:

nickname:

Queen of Drift

Birthday:

January 29, 1975 (51)

Birthplace:

Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan

racing type:

Sports Car racing

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height:

161cm

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inspiration(s):

Masahiro Matsunaga, Shinichi Yamaji, Kumi Sato

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GRRL-0438

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Junko's full bio:

(last updated 2026-01-26

Junko Mihara turned heads as a teenage pop star, swapped the stage for racing suits and became the first woman to compete full-time in Japan’s premier GT championship, then pivoted again to become a powerful voice in Japanese politics—all while surviving cervical cancer and championing women’s health reform.

EARLY YEARS

Born September 13, 1964, in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, Mihara grew up in a printing company executive’s household that gave her stability—until it didn’t. Her father’s business collapsed unexpectedly, a jolt that may have instilled the resilience she’d need for her many career reinventions. At 15, she made her acting debut in the 1979 television series Kinpachi-sensei, a role that launched her into Japan’s entertainment spotlight. By 1980, she was recording music, releasing her debut album Sexy Night—a hard-rock departure from typical idol fare that sold over 300,000 copies and established her as more than just another pretty face in J-pop.

OTHER INTERESTS

Mihara’s life has been a study in refusing to be pigeonholed. Beyond acting, singing, and racing, she founded a care facility in 2010, driven by personal experience with Japan’s healthcare system. Her battle with cervical cancer in 2008—which resulted in a hysterectomy—transformed her into a vocal advocate for women’s health issues, particularly HPV vaccination and cancer screening. She’s publicly shared her medical journey, using her platform to push for policy changes that other politicians wouldn’t touch. In 2020 and 2021, she led a group of parliamentarians demanding the Japanese health ministry reconsider its suspension of HPV vaccination recommendations, helping reverse a policy that had left thousands of women vulnerable. Her philosophy of “learn, realize, and take action” isn’t just a slogan—it’s how she’s lived every phase of her unconventional life.

EARLY SUCCESS

Racing came into Mihara’s world through her husband, Masahiro Matsunaga, who taught her to drive on track. In 1987, she jumped into the Nissan-sponsored March Little Dynamite Cup, a one-make clubman series that served as her racing school. She wasn’t dabbling—she was training. By 1990, Mihara was sharing a Toyota Corolla in the Japanese Touring Car Championship with Matsunaga and Shinichi Yamaji, holding her own in one of Japan’s most competitive series. She even modified her personal Celica XX with an aero kit and Volk Racing 370 Artisan Spirits wheels, because of course she did. From 1994 to 1998, she tackled the brutal 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps five times, first in a Toyota MR2, then switching to Honda machinery. Racing wasn’t a hobby or a publicity stunt—it was a full-contact sport where she proved herself lap after lap.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

1990-1991: Competed in the Japanese Touring Car Championship, sharing a Toyota Corolla with husband Masahiro Matsunaga and Shinichi Yamaji.
1994-1998: Entered the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps five times, initially driving an SW20 Toyota MR2 before switching to Honda.
1996-1997: Raced full-time in Super GT Japan’s GT300 class, becoming the first woman to compete full-time in the JGTC.
1998: Scheduled to participate in the ill-fated All-Japan Fuji GT Race as part of the first all-female team alongside Kumi Sato and Michiko Okuyama—her final racing entry before switching careers.
2010: Founded a care facility and was elected to the House of Councillors representing Kanagawa, beginning her political career.
2016: Appointed to major posts in the House of Councillors.
2020: Served as Deputy Minister, focusing on amplifying women’s voices in healthcare policy.
2024: Appointed Minister of State for Policies Related to Children, Measures for Declining Birthrate, Youth Empowerment, and Gender Equality in Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s cabinet.

INSPIRATIONS

Masahiro Matsunaga wasn’t just Mihara’s husband—he was her racing mentor, the person who handed her the keys and said, “Let’s see what you’ve got.” Their partnership on and off track defined her early racing years, with both sharing drives in the Japanese Touring Car Championship. Beyond racing, her motivation shifted dramatically after her cancer diagnosis. Surviving cervical cancer and losing her uterus at a time when she might have considered motherhood turned her into a fierce advocate for the women who came after her. She’s been open about how her medical crisis reshaped her priorities, pushing her toward politics where she could fight for systemic change rather than just individual wins.

REPUTATION

Mihara’s reputation is that of a woman who doesn’t do anything halfway. In entertainment, she was the rock-and-roll idol who refused to be cute and compliant. In racing, she was the full-time competitor who showed up at Spa year after year, not the celebrity making a one-off appearance. In politics, she’s the cancer survivor who turned personal tragedy into public policy, leading controversial battles over HPV vaccination when it was politically risky. Her tenure in the Diet has been marked by a focus on health policy, children’s welfare, and gender equality—unsexy topics that require actual work. She’s remained connected to motorsports even while serving in government, maintaining ties to Super GT and the racing community that shaped her. Critics might call her a dilettante, jumping from career to career, but her track record suggests something else: relentless competence and a refusal to be defined by anyone else’s expectations.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

As of October 2024, Mihara serves as Minister of State for Policies Related to Children, Measures for Declining Birthrate, Youth Empowerment, and Gender Equality—a sprawling portfolio that puts her at the center of Japan’s demographic crisis. Her focus is on creating policies that support women through fertility treatment, childcare, and career development, issues she understands viscerally from her own experience. She’s also working on youth empowerment initiatives, leveraging her unconventional career path as proof that Japanese society needs more flexibility, not less. Whether she’ll return to racing in any capacity remains to be seen, but knowing Mihara’s history of defying expectations, it wouldn’t be shocking to see her back at a track someday—probably in something fast, definitely on her own terms.