B4. Gender Inequality in Politics and Leadership

Explanation and Analysis

A list of news stories and reports on women in politics in Japan from iKNOW Politics (International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics). This is a very useful source of information.

No kiss, no vote: Survey shows female politicians in Japan victims of sexual harassment "A survey on politicians in Japan has shown that many former and current female national legislators and local assembly members have been subject to sexual harassment." Mainichi Shimbun, 29 Mar 2022.

Analysis: women across Japan far behind in gender equality "Women’s participation is still low across many of Japan's 47 prefectures, particularly in politics and management, while pay equality also continues lagging...The results showed women were particularly underrepresented in politics nationwide, accounting for 10.6 percent of all prefectural assembly members." Asahi Shimbun, 8 Mar, 2022.

Fewer women elected in Lower House poll despite empowerment law "In Sunday's general election, 45 women were elected to the 465-seat House of Representatives, down two from the previous contest in 2017, despite a law promoting female participation in the political field". Japan Times, 1 Nov, 2021.

It is bullying, pure and simple’: being a woman in Japanese politics "Harassment is common for women who run for office and female MPs comprise just 9.9% of lower house" This article looks at the low levels of women in Japanese politics focusing on the problems of sexual harassment that many of them face. Guardian, 27 Oct 2021.

Women make headlines in LDP race, but true empowerment a long way off Two women entered the race for the leadership of Japan’s ruling party for the first time in 2021 but some experts say gender inequality will likely remain a problem in the Liberal Democratic Party because it is still heavily influenced by conservative male politicians. Japan Times, 22 Sep, 2021.

Can Japan Fix the Gender Gap in Its Politics? This article explains the low level of women's participation in politics in Japan and the reasons for that, and looks at the the Act on Promotion of Gender Equality in the Political Field of 2018, and some of the problems with it, and considers the effects that quotas of women candidates would have. The Diplomat, 22 Jun 2021.

Olympics chief row reveals a deeper problem in Japanese politics A video that looks at the Liberal Democratic party's decision to try to involve women in politics more by inviting them to join meetings but not speak, and has an interview with Tomomi Inada of the LDP who calls for quotas of female candidates to address the gender inequality in Japanese politics. CNN, 19 Feb, 2021.

Promoting women in Japanese politics This article looks at moves to increase the number of women in politics in japan including making it mandatory for political parties to se targets for numbers of female candidates. It refers to the work of two organisations campaigning on this issue, Parite Campaign,and the Women's Action Network and explains the importance of having women in politics from the perspective of activists and women who have suffered sexual harassment and violence. NHK World, 5 May 2021.

Parite Campaign website 議会の男女比を５０・５０に

Woman Shift 政策を実現できる女性議員を増やし地方議員を女性のキャリアの一つに A network of young female lawmakers and assembly members

Alliance of Feminist Representatives (AFR) Japan This is a group that campaigns for quotas for women in Japanese politics.

Women's Action Network website 女性と女性の活動をつなぐサポータルサイト

Polilion 政治に関わる方々に、オンラインでメンタルケアやコーチングを提供 They conduct harassment training for legislatures and assemblies. Includes their 政治家ハラスメント白書 to download.

Japan has so few women politicians that when even one is gaffe-prone, it's damaging As well as looking at the politician Mio Sugita's remarks on sexual violence against women and reactions to them, this article reports the experiences and views of LDP politician, Tomomi Inada, about how to increase the number of women in politics. She calls for mandatory not voluntary electoral gender quotas for each party. CNN, 22 Oct 2020.

Survey of Japanese Women Finds Majority Want Greater Female Representation in Politics The article reports survey data about what women in Japan think of the low numbers of female politicians, what they think are the reasons for this situation, and their views on whether Japan should introduce a quota system for female candidates. Nippon.com 5 Jan 2021.

Japan's day care crisis is turning working moms into activists This article looks at the reasons why women find it so difficult to continue their carers when they have children, focusing on the example of Ogata Yuko a female politician in Kumamoto who was shouted at and forced to leave the Council Chamber when she entered it with her baby to make a point about the need for support for working mothers. CNN, 8 Jul 2019.

Japan town's sole female councillor ousted after accusing mayor of sexual assault Focusing on the story of Shoko Arai, the only female councillor in Kusatsu who accused the mayor of sexual assault, this article looks at the male domination of local and national politics in Japan. Guardian, 8 Dec 2020.

She Accused the Mayor of Sexual Assault. Then the Town Turned on Her. Looking at the case of Shoko Arai, the only female councillor in Kusatsu, this articles explains how attitudes towards female victims of sexual violence prevents them speaking out. New York Times, 9 Dec 2020.

Japan is a 'democracy without women', says ruling party MP Tomomi Inada makes comment after new prime minister appoints just two women on 21-strong cabinet. Guardian, 23 Sep 2020.

Over 50% of assemblywomen in Japan have been sexually harassed, survey suggests The Alliance of Feminist Representatives (AFER), a nationwide group of female politicians that advocates for the introduction of gender quotas for elected officials, said 52 percent of people who responded to its survey on sexual discrimination indicated they had been targeted by sexual harassment at least once. Japan Times, 13 Aug 2015.

「女性議員の少なさに危機感も9割は政治家になりたいとは思わず―1万人女性意識調査」2021年1月4日　Yahoo!ニュース

『【1万人女性意識調査】第2回テーマ「女性と政治」』2020年12月16日　日本財団

『日本の女性は政治家に「ならない」のか、「なれない」のか』2020年10月29日　雨宮紫苑　 FRAU

「女性政治家と赤ちゃん――ウィン・ウィンにはなれないのか」2017年8月４日　BBC News Japan

「政治におけるジェンダーパリティの向上を目指して——女性政治家の育成に向けたパリテ・アカデミーとの協力」2020年5月22日　笹川平和財団

「WOMAN SHIFT～「普通」の女性も議員になれる社会に」2017年1月12日　台東区議会議員　本目さよ　政治山

パリテ・アカデミーとWOMAN SHIFTは日本国内で女性政治家育成に力を入れている団体のようです。

http://parity-academy.org　パリテ・アカデミー

https://womanshift.wixsite.com/womanshift WOMEN SHIFT

Ⅰ 政治分野における男女共同参画 - 国立女性教育会館リポジトリhttps://nwec.repo.nii.ac.jp › ...

「政治分野における男女共同参画」三浦まり　国立女性教育会館リポジトリ

２５ページくらいの論文ですが、読みやすかったです。

Japanese women hold record 3% of senior government posts Japanese women held a record-high ratio of senior positions in the central government, but at 3 percent, they are still well behind their counterparts in other developed nations, government figures showed Jan. 31. Asahi Shimbun, 1 Feb 2014.

Among Equals? Women in Japanese Politics This article by Yuko Nakano asks why Japan is behind many developing as well as developed countries in terms of women's participation in politics. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 13 Jul 2013.

Expansion of Women's Participation in Policy and Decision-making Processes in All Fields in Society from the Japanese Government Gender Equality Bureau

Outrage follows sexist outburst at Tokyo assembly meeting As well reporting briefly on the sexist heckling of Ayako Shinomura in the Tokyo Assembly and sexism more widely in Japanese workplaces, it also has a video 'Can Womenonomics Save Japan?' which discusses issues facing working women in Japan, and looks at a project, HactchCoWork.com, to provide an environment for women to combine childcare and working. CNN, 23 Jun 2014.

Hope, frustration as activists lament lack of women in Japanese politics Japan sharply lags other developed nations in female representation in politics, having made little progress over the 70 years since the first women were elected to the Diet. Japan Times, Jul 17, 2015.

The History and Future of Women's Participation in Politics in Japan, Women's Asia 21, Summer 2002

Japan’s Growing Political Gender Gap Three days before South Korea elected a woman president, Japanese voters significantly reduced the number of women in parliament. As a result of the vote in the 2012 election, the new lower house will have 38 women, or 7.9% of all lawmakers in that chamber. That’s down from 54, or 11.3. Wall Street Journal, 20 Dec 2012.

Another low for Japan's gender gap, as only 15% of election candidates are female The Japan Times, 2 Dec 2014.

More women pass civil service exam A record 399 women passed this year’s exam for career-track positions in the central government, the National Personnel Authority said Monday. In all, 1,918 men and women passed. Women made up 20.8 percent of the successful applicants, up 1.3 percentage points from last year, but below the record of 22.9 percent logged in 2012. Japan Times, Jun 23, 2014.

Can Having More Women in the Government Change Japan? An interview with Tomomi Inada, Minister of State for National Public Service Personnel Systems. Tokyo Business Today, 14 July 2014

Worldwide Women Public Sector Leaders Index 2014: Opening the door for women working in government A comparative report on women in government and the civl service in different countries, including Japan. EY.

Individual Action Plan Economy: Japan Ratio of women's representation in leadership Detailed figures on women's participation in different aspects of government and the civil service, APEC, 2015.

Japan drastically lowers its goal for female managers in government and private sector The government has abandoned its aim of having women in 30 percent of management roles by 2020. On Friday it approved a new gender equality road map that slashes targets in some areas. Japan Times, Dec 25, 2015

Government at a Glance 2015 Country Fact Sheet for Japan includes data on women in public sector employment in Japan. OECD.

セクハラ、女性議員苦悩　朝日新聞社アンケート統一地方選 Questionaire about sexual harassment against female politicians. You can access this article from 朝日新聞database and research the name of title in the research box of the database. 朝日新聞, 26 Mar, 2019.

野田聖子氏が語る女性議員と結婚のリアル　離婚したら「お帰り！」の声も This is an article about the female politician Seiko NODA talks about her experiences and the mood of Japanese society against female politicians in Japan. Yahoo!ニュース, 31 Mar 2022

日本初の女性総理はどこにいる？女性議員を苦しめる永田町の「本音と建前」　This is an article about how hard to be a politician for women in Japan, talked by two female politicians. Huffpost, 22 Oct 2020

How can we improve gender equality in Japan? A short article by Naomi Koshi, Mayor, Otsu City, Japan which has useful information about the current state of gender inequality in Japan, World Economic Forum, 21 April 2015

「議会審議中に議長が赤ちゃんを抱っこ、ミルクも与え　ニュージーランド」　2019年8月22日　BBC News Japan

「NZ首相、国連総会に赤ちゃん同行　おむつ交換に日本代表団びっくり」2018年9月26日　BBC News Japan

『世界初「首相が産休」のアーダーン首相、語る』2019年9月19日　NHK政治マガジン