She graduated from Waseda University in 2005 and worked for Takara Printing Company for four years before entering politics.

[1] She first ran in the 2009 Tokyo metropolitan assembly elections as a candidate from Toshima City, but failed to win a seat.

Her next appearance was in the 2013 House of Councillors election, in which she placed third within the Tokyo at-large district, becoming the first Communist party member to win an at-large district seat in twelve years.

[2] One focus of her campaign, along with that of successful JCP candidate Saori Ikeuchi, was the unstable jobs situation faced by young people.

[1] Her husband Yuichiro Matsushima is a member of the Meguro City assembly in Tokyo.