Tokyo council told to 'clean itself up' after sexist jeers at assembly woman

The Japanese government yesterday called on Tokyo city council to "clean itself up" after sexist jeers at an assemblywoman undermined its push for more women into the workforce.

Criticism from across the political spectrum was heaped upon still-unidentified city politicians from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) over the jeers during a debate on child-rearing this week.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesman, cautioned that the incident had nothing to do with national politics. But "if there were comments of a sexist nature, I would like the assembly to clean itself up", he said.

Health Minister Norihisa Tamura, whose portfolio includes the welfare of working women, said the abuse was "not only deeply disrespectful to women, it was a major human rights issue".

The comments came as colleagues of opposition member Ayaka Shiomura, 35, demanded the assembly identify and punish those who directed abuse at her.

Shiomura, from the centre-right Your Party, was questioning senior figures in the city administration on plans to help mothers when she faced shouts of "Why don't you get married?" and "Are you not able to have a baby?"