How Women Won or Lost in the Japanese Lower House Election: Case Studies of Women Candidates Who Ran as Challengers

Extract

Introduction

In the latest election for Japan's House of Representatives (Lower House) in June 2000, 202 women ran, and 35 were elected.This is the record high under the New Constitution. Another women was elected in the special election of October 2000, elevating women to 7.6% of the House of Representatives. Reflecting the enactment of 1999's Basic Law for a Gender-Equal Society in 1999, major political parties in Japan recruited more women candidates than ever before. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) headed by Takako Doi—a women—had the highest percentage of female representatives (52.6%, or 10 of its 19 HR members). The Japan Communist Party (JCP) also increased its percentage (20%, of four out of its 20 HR members). This shows, to some extent, the advantage held by female candidates from leftist parties that advocate feminist concerns, such as gender equality in political representation.