Arfiya Eri is a member of Japan's House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament (the Diet), representing the 5th District of Chiba Prefecture (Urayasu City and Ichikawa City, just outside Tokyo).

At 35 years old, she is currently the youngest woman in Japan’s parliament. A Japanese national of Uyghur and Uzbek descent, she is also the first Uyghur woman to be elected to any legislature in any nation.

In 2023, Time magazine named Eri one of its 100 next-generation global leaders. Eri brings a decade of experience in public policy to her political role, having worked for the United Nations and the Bank of Japan, Japan’s central bank, prior to entering politics.

Eri holds a B.Sc. in Foreign Service and an M.A. in Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (specializing in modern Uyghur Studies), both from Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.