Japanese women want more representation in politics, but few are running for office

More than 60 per cent of female respondents to a survey say there is inadequate participation at the national and local levels of politics

But just 8 per cent of the women say they have political ambitions, with some still feeling that ‘politics is for men’

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The cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, front centre, has just two women: Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto, bottom right, and Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa, centre of the third row. Photo: AP

Published: 4:58pm, 6 Jan 2021Updated: 10:45am, 11 Jan 2021

Japanese women feel there is inadequate female participation at all levels of domestic politics, according to a new survey, although very few are willing to challenge that statistic and run for office.

A survey by the Nippon Foundation of 10,000 women between the ages of 18 and 69 found that 62.2 per cent of respondents believe that women are under-represented in national and local-level politics, with the figure rising to nearly 70 per cent among those educated to university level or beyond.

Some 63.7 per cent of those taking part in the survey said it was necessary to increase the number of women in politics, a figure that dwarfed the 4.9 per cent who said there was no need for more balanced gender representation in decision-making chambers across the country.

Japan does have a number of high-profile female politicians – Yuriko Koike is the popular governor of Tokyo, Yoko Kamikawa serves as justice minister, Seiko Hashimoto is Olympics minister and Renho Saito is the former head of the opposition Democratic Party – but the overall numbers are low in comparison with other countries.

Women account for around 10 per cent of the politicians in Japan’s lower house and 20 per cent in the upper chamber, while the figure in prefectural assemblies is slightly over 10 per cent.

According to the United Nations, the global average of women in national parliaments stands at 24.3 per cent, with Rwanda topping the list of female politicians with more than 61 per cent. Regionally, 19.8 per cent of politicians in Asia are female, while the figure climbs to 28.6 per cent in Europe and 30.6 per cent in the Americas.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike Photo: Kyodo

And while at least 10 nations presently have female leaders, including Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh and Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand, no woman has ever come close to being prime minister of Japan.

Japanese women want more representation in politics, but few are running for office

More than 60 per cent of female respondents to a survey say there is inadequate participation at the national and local levels of politics But just 8 per cent of the women say they have political ambitions, with some still feeling that ‘politics is for men’

More than 60 per cent of female respondents to a survey say there is inadequate participation at the national and local levels of politics

But just 8 per cent of the women say they have political ambitions, with some still feeling that ‘politics is for men’