Photo/Illutration Sayuri Otsuka, center, a candidate of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan for the 20th district of Kanagawa in the Lower House election, celebrates her victory on Oct. 27 in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture. (Ryota Enman)

The number of women who were elected to the Lower House in the Oct. 27 general election increased 28 from the previous poll to a record 73, well above the previous high of 54 in 2009.

Their share among all successful candidates also rose significantly from 9.7 percent in the 2021 election to 15.7 percent.

It was the second Lower House election since a law urging political parties to achieve as much gender equality as possible among their candidates took effect, and the total of female candidates was 314, also an all-time high.

But their overall share among candidates was still just 23 percent, a ratio that is far from representing equality.

Much more must be done to ensure that the trend of increasing female legislators will firmly take root.

It is crucial to take steps to create an environment conducive for women to run for office, including discovering and recruiting potential female candidates and implementing measures to prevent harassment.

Political parties need to step up their own efforts to accelerate the trend.

The political party that had the largest number of female candidates elected was the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, with 30 women becoming CDP members of the lower chamber, 17 more than the previous time, including 13 newcomers.

In the 2009 general election, when the number of elected women was previously the highest, the Democratic Party of Japan, the precursor to the CDP, took power from the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner, Komeito.

These facts seem to indicate that elections where strong political headwinds are blowing against the ruling parties tend to favor newcomers from the opposition, including women.

The number of the LDP’s successful female candidates decreased by one from the previous election to 19.

The party sharply boosted the total of female proportional representation candidates in place of mostly male lawmakers running in single-seat districts who were not put on the party’s lists for proportional representation under a double candidacy system due to their involvement in a political funding scandal.

As a result, the ranks of female LDP candidates increased by 22 from the previous poll to 55. However, this tactic did not translate to an increase in the party’s seats occupied by women as most of these candidates failed to be elected, owing to their lower listing on the rankings.

Women constituted 9.9 percent of the elected representatives from the LDP. Although this was a slight increase from the 7.7 percent in the previous election due to fewer overall seats, the ratio was less than half the CDP’s 20.3 percent and 21.4 percent for the Democratic Party for the People.

In June last year, the LDP adopted a "basic plan for the development and promotion of female legislators,” which set a goal to increase the proportion of female legislators to 30 percent within the next 10 years.

However, the party’s commitment to the goal is questionable, considering that only two women were actually placed high on the proportional representation lists despite the party’s pledge to consider increasing the number.

Japan’s social structure and economic environment are rapidly changing due to the nation’s aging and declining population.

It is urgently needed to fundamentally promote the participation of women, who make up half the population, in political decision-making to reflect the diverse opinions of the populace.

The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women urged the Japanese government to increase the number of female legislators in its recommendations published on Oct. 29.

It has been six years since the law for promoting gender equality in election candidates came into force. Relying indefinitely on a law to set principles without penalties for achieving this vital goal is unacceptable.

If progress remains insufficient, stronger actions, such as introducing a quota system requiring a certain percentage of candidates to be women, should be considered.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 31

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