Drastic efforts needed to open door for Japan 1st female PM

The election in the United States in which Kamala Harris sought to become the country's first female president highlights a stubborn gender inequality in Japan's national politics.

Japan's recent general election saw the percentage of women in the House of Representatives rise to a modest yet record high of 15.7 percent, reflecting the tepid push by political parties and the government for greater female representation -- something some experts argue really needs radical steps, such as a mandatory electoral quota.

"Japan has come to a stage where it can no longer expect change from the inside, as it's become patently obvious that Japan's politics are male-centered," said Mari Hamada, representative of Stand by Women, a group supporting incumbent female assembly and parliament members as well as those aspiring to join them.

"If the country is exposed to overseas examples" where women hold senior political roles, it could have a positive influence, Hamada said, adding that a Harris win would motivate more Japanese women to run for office.

In the Oct 27 election, 73 female candidates won seats, up from 28 in the previous lower house election in 2021.

The overrepresentation of men in parliament largely mirrors Japan's 118th overall ranking out of 146 countries and 113th position in terms of political empowerment in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report for 2024, the lowest among the Group of Seven industrialized nations.

Experts say one way to boost female participation in politics is to introduce an electoral gender quota to see more women appearing on the ballot in the first place.

Such quota systems could take such forms as reserved Diet seats for women or setting a minimum for the share of women on the candidate lists, either as a legal requirement or a measure written into the pledges of political parties.

Many experts say a quota system should be adopted until women constitute at least a "critical minority" of 30 percent in parliament, a threshold seen essential for effectively influencing opinions.

"A quota system with sanctions for noncompliance has been shown to be effective in many countries in raising the ratio of women in parliament" including France, said Ayaka Murakami, lecturer at Senshu University specializing in women and politics.

Female representation in the French parliament was at 5.9 percent in 1996 but jumped to 37.8 percent in 2023, largely due to the 2000 "law of parity" that imposed mandatory numerical equality of male and female candidates for all elections.

The law has sanctions such as invalidating a party's list of candidates or imposing reduction in party subsidies for parties that do not have an equal number of candidates from each sex.

"The male-dominated political environment has become quite entrenched in Japan and it is hard to imagine something within the country sparking a change in such a situation," Hamada said.

"I expect external influences will help shift mindsets about the roles women can play after realizing how female legislators and those having (leadership) roles are common overseas," Hamada said, calling for the introduction of a quota system.

In fielding electoral candidates, political parties tend to prioritize support for incumbents trying to retain their seats, creating hurdles for women seeking to enter politics, political analysts say. The trend is more so if public support for a ruling coalition is strong, they say.

"The only way out of such a situation is to make it compulsory by law to ensure a certain number of women stand for elections," Murakami said.

The government has set a goal of raising the proportion of women running in national elections to 35 percent by 2025, but only a few political parties met the threshold for the latest general election.

In 2018, Japan enacted a law urging political parties to make efforts to field an equal number of male and female candidates, but the measure is not mandatory and carries no penalty for noncompliance.

In the latest election, 16.1 percent were women among the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's candidates, while the proportion was 22.4 percent for the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Only the Japanese Communist Party and a minor Sanseito party cleared the government's 35 percent target.

"I think there is the power of numbers. If some 30 percent of parliamentarians are women, their voices cannot be ignored," Murakami said, expecting that more bills related to such areas as reproductive health and child-rearing may be put forward.

"Of course, female lawmakers are not monolithic (on gender issues) and women do not necessarily need to promote women-related policies. But there are certain issues that they recognize as important because of their own experience," Murakami said.

"Those in legislative chambers should have diverse experiences because citizens are diverse," she said.

Aside from political parties' prioritization of predominantly male incumbent candidates, other challenges remain.

A 2021 report from the Cabinet Office showed that, of 994 people who gave up running for local or national elections, more women than men cited a lack of funds and knowledge to run a campaign.

The report also noted more female members of local assemblies experiencing difficulty "balancing family life," while about one in three of them experienced some form of sexual harassment.

"Stereotyped gender role attitudes are pervasive and stigmatize women," framing politics as the domain of men and relegating women to household duties, said Stand by Women's Hamada.

"Also, many say housework, child care and nursing care make it difficult to spend time on elections," she said, urging support by political parties and the government.