Photo/Illutration Toshiaki Eto, left, chairman of an expert panel, and others explain measures to address the shortage of candidates for assembly elections on April 8 in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward. (Jin Hirakawa)

Leaders of town and village assemblies said that raising the percentage of female political representatives on the local level is “indispensable” in the battle to solve the shortage of candidates for local assembly elections.

The National Association of Chairpersons of Town and Village Assemblies on April 8 released a report on how to counter the low ratio of women in assemblies and how to raise awareness of the roles of local politicians.

The content of the report, compiled by a five-member committee of experts and based on interviews, will be shared with assemblies nationwide.

The report was written after a number of candidates were elected unopposed during the unified local elections held last April.

According to the report, 27.4 percent of all town and village assembly elections held between May 2019 and April 2023 were uncontested, up 5.5 percentage points from the four-year period through April 2019.

The report says if the current trend continues, the uncontested election ratio will reach 34.1 percent over the next four years, undermining local assemblies’ significance and weakening regional autonomy.

Among the causes for the lack of candidates is residents’ insufficient understanding of the roles of assemblies, according to the report. Another is the low pay for assembly members.

The average monthly wage of town and village assembly politicians is 210,000 yen ($1,370), a figure described as low.

According to the report, assembly members are often elderly men, leaving the impression that local politics has nothing to do with ordinary or younger people.

To change that image, the report recommends that assemblies establish specialized committees to deal with problems, as well as hold briefing sessions on political activities around supermarkets, shopping streets and elsewhere near residential areas.

Another option is increasing politicians’ salaries after gaining consent from residents, the report said.

“Improving the low female politician rate would be a decisive way to resolve the dearth of candidates,” the report said.

To achieve that goal, the report calls for thorough anti-harassment steps and mock assembly sessions to allow women to experience the role of local politicians.

Aside from efforts by assemblies, the report urges town and village governments to embrace full-time staff members for assembly secretariats.

The central government should also put in place a well-designed system to enable politicians to seek re-employment following their retirement as assembly members, the report said.

Toshiaki Eto, a political science professor at Taisho University who headed the expert committee, emphasized that the lack of candidates for assembly elections could further worsen people’s apathy toward politics.

“This issue involves Japan’s democracy,” he said at a news conference on April 8. “Now is an important time for rejuvenation.”

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