Photo/Illutration Rie Otake, center, from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is among the 73 female candidates elected in the Lower House election on Oct. 27, marking the highest number of women ever elected to the Lower House. The photo was taken in the early morning of Oct. 28 in Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture. (Noboru Tomura)

A record 73 women won seats in the Lower House election on Oct. 27, resulting in the highest ever female representation in the Diet chamber, at 15.7 percent.

The number exceeded the previous high of 54 seats in 2009, when the percentage of women in the Diet stood at 11.3 percent.

Of the women elected in the latest election, 32, or 43.8 percent, were newcomers.

In contrast, only 67 of the 392 male representatives elected were rookies—just 17.1 percent.

Some of these newly elected women defeated high-profile male incumbents.

Among these is Sayuri Otsuka of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, who beat Akira Amari from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Kanagawa Prefecture’s 20th district.

Of the 73 women elected, 35 were elected from single-seat districts and 38 from districts with proportional representation.

Opposition parties demonstrated a higher female representation.

Female CDP candidates won 30 seats, accounting for 20.3 percent of that party’s seats. The Democratic Party for the People elected six women, or 21.4 percent.

In comparison, only 19 female LDP candidates were elected, representing just 9.9 percent of its seats. Komeito, the LDP’s coalition partner, had four women elected, or 16.7 percent.

Additionally, some smaller parties with fewer Diet seats exhibited even higher levels of female representation, ranging from 33.3 to 66.7 percent.

(This article was written by Nobuhiko Tajima and Takuro Chiba.)

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